Mario's Crowbar
by Magikoopa981
Summary: Bowser's attempt to capture Princess Peach one dark night sets off a chain of events that result in Mario going murderously insane and the destruction of the Mushroom Kingdom.
1. Chapter One

**Dedicated to:**

**J_Seigal for encouraging me in writing the original story,**

**and**

**KojinkaLuigiGodzilla for inspiring me to rewrite and improve the story- she drew the story's cover art. Check out her art page at Deviantart.**

**This story is not canon at all with my other serious work "The Mushroom Kingdom".**

Chapter One

A dark and stormy night: the perfect night to capture Peach again. As fierce lightning split the sky and heavy rain rushed downwards at violent speeds, Bowser and the army he had brought with him crept in the darkness.

About a mile ahead of Bowser wandered a weak patrol, scouting out the area for signs of Mario or Luigi. The scouting patrol was a sad bunch- they were the newest members of the Koopa Troop. This patrol was defined by Bowser as "the most easily expendable", as it was decided that there was no time to train them, and it'd just be easier to use them as part of a sacrificial plan. The patrol was aware of its probably imminent death, and some of the group prayed as they marched. Near the back, a younger koopa named Wes trekked slowly, messing with the luck charm tied around his neck: a dried, golden mushroom. It was pretty crappy as most charms go, but it was all he had now. He was traveling through the miserable, hellish wind and rain, forced into Bowser's army to go out and fight, and actually try to FIND Mario- to go out into the terrifying darkness and attempt to find death itself. Wes wondered solemnly if Mario was already nearby, but a voice coming from beyond a nearby layer of trees was already answering the terrible question.

* * *

"Hurry up, Luigi" Whispered Mario, trying to be as quiet as possible, but still loud enough so that his clumsy brother could hear him. The words had little effect, as Luigi continued to bumble through the woods, tripping over roots, stumps, and even what appeared to be a bone jutting out of the soggy earth. Right as Luigi reached Mario he stumbled over a final rock, landing face first in a mud puddle. Mario sighed. "Come on Luigi, let's get serious. The informant said they'd be coming this…" but the deadly sound of marching feet coming from the other side of the trees interrupted his words.

"ATTACK!" A voice screamed from within the patrol: Kan, the captain of the group and Wes' superior. The koopas rushed and Mario and Luigi jumped into view. The battle was on. Some of the koopas began to run away, but Wes stood his ground, panicking. He grasped the lucky mushroom charm desperately for a moment and then rushed straight into the middle of the fray.

STOMP! CRACK! CRUNCH! The sickening sounds repeated as Mario practically tore apart the unfortunate koopas. Luigi had disappeared somewhere into the battle, but the nearby sounds of shells cracking confirmed that he was still standing. The blood seemed to form a tornado around Mario, and though it felt like it took an hour, Mario was strangely exhilarated when the carnage had ended. Koopa bodies were littered everywhere: red shells, green shells, some blue shells even, and…green cloth. That wasn't a koopa shell.

"Luigi?" Gasped Mario. He ran over to Luigi's side, actually feeling scared for the first time that night.

Wes slowly moved his head. The pain was unreal- absolutely unbearable, to the point of being ridiculous in its scope and intensity. He heard someone say "Luigi", and, struggling, he managed to look up enough to see Mario cradling Luigi's crumpled body. Wes closed his eyes and tried to play dead. Judging by the resounding silence all around him, it seemed everyone else was either dead or pretending as he was, although the overwhelming stench of death suggested the former. Was he really the only one who had survived? Maybe his lucky charm had worked.

Suddenly, the wretched sound of coughing arose from behind Mario, opposite from Wes' location. The cough was strange and unreal- or perhaps the moment was just making everything unreal- but the sound of the cough seemed to curl around the battlefield and echo into the night sky, and even beyond. The cough was unworldly, the sound of demise. Mario looked around wildly for the source, eyes wide. In his wild state it took him a few seconds longer than it should have to realize the sound was coming from behind him.

Mario stood up slowly and approached the offending koopa, who whimpered. Another CRUNCH and it was over. Mario picked up Luigi's body and moved away into the darkness of the forest. _Thank God_, Wes thought. Another explosion of thunder let out, and when the light flashed Mario's receding figure could be seen in the far distance.

The thick mud coated the inside of his throat, threatening to choke him every time he tried to breathe- but Wes HAD to breathe. It was a painful situation, but Wes had to thank his luck charm- he would never go anywhere without it now. He had survived a face-to-face encounter with Luigi, and then had avoided being torn apart by a grief stricken Mario. Maybe he was the luckiest koopa alive…but oh God, the pain. He still couldn't stand, and because of the mud in his throat, he couldn't call for help, either. To make things even worse, the continuing storm was continuing to conjure up more mud, which in turn began to slowly drain into his slightly open mouth. What a fun death- survive an encounter with the most powerful being in the world, and choke to death on mud. Maybe he wasn't so lucky after all…

…Or so he thought, until the sound of marching feet began to approach. Marching koopas- it was the main force of the night's attack, led directly by King Bowser himself. The squadron marched into the once beautiful field, trying not to groan at the horrible sight before them. Bowser marched at the front, stepping on the fallen bodies without care and in turn making another symphony of demise. SNAP CRACK CRUNCH SMUSH: a final message and song of the dead. Several members of the squadron following Bowser had to resist the urge to throw up.

"A pity…but it's only a fraction of the army." Said Bowser, looking over the fallen bodies- and then looking at Wes! He had to get Bowser's attention. Wes struggled to speak, but the mud refused to permit it. He tried winking, but even his eyes were too tired…he was too weak to do anything. It would be disgraceful, but perhaps he could vomit…no, but that too was beyond his abilities. As Bowser and the squadron turned away from Wes and marched on, Wes squirmed and struggled internally to be able to do SOMETHING to get Bowser's attention. He found he could just barely move his fingers, but no one could see him anymore. There was no more he could do- he was going to die.

* * *

Fortunately for Luigi, his and Mario's house wasn't too far away. Mario reached the home as quickly as he could and laid Luigi down in his warm bed. Outside, as Mario tried not to think about it, the noises of the rain hitting the roof and the moist mud reminded Mario of the image of the battlefield: a shadowy clearing of dead bodies, with Luigi's broken form the ghastly centerpiece. Mario shivered and watched Luigi closely. His eyes were closed, and he was stiff…but barely, just barely was he breathing. Mario considered running to get toad paramedics, but he was afraid that by the time he returned Luigi would be dead. Anxiously, Mario began to shake Luigi's hand and softly call his name, but Luigi wouldn't respond- only his heartbeat would increase to a violent tempo. The rapid heartbeat frightened Mario. He considered getting something to cool Luigi down…but was that what he needed? His body was still wet from the rain…and the cuts…Mario hadn't even begun to look at the cuts yet. Suddenly, Mario's thoughts were interrupted by a loud knocking at the door.

* * *

Windy…cold…raining. Bowser hated these nights, but they were always the best to capture Peach on. The moronic toad guards NEVER saw him coming at night. As for Mario…well…Bowser already had a plan for THAT little problem. He probably couldn't kill him, but he could definitely slow him down.

Soon enough, the squadron arrived at Mario's house. Bowser snapped his fingers, and three Magikoopas that had been specially brought for the mission stood before Bowser.

"Knock on the door, and don't come back without Mario and Luigi's eyes" Growled Bowser. The Magikoopas nodded silently; though they had no illusions about their task- they knew it was a suicide mission. While Bowser and the squadron disappeared back into the forest, heading for Peach's Castle, the Magikoopa with the tallest cap fixed his crooked glasses and knocked on the door.

Mario walked to the door, the padding of his now-dried shoes on the shiny wooden floor making a pleasant "pap pap pap" noise. Mario opened the door.

"WHOA!" Yelled Mario as he ducked to the floor, narrowly dodging a Magikoopa's spell. The other two Magikoopa's sped into the house, shutting the door and quickly surrounding Mario. Just as Mario got up all three of the Magikoopas fired deadly throat-tightening spells at him, an attack that should've hit- if Mario wasn't so fast. He back-flipped, landing on one Magikoopa with fatal force- its head was crushed in. The other two Magikoopas quickly formed a wall between Mario and the bed that Luigi laid on, alternately firing spells in a panicked and unprofessional manner. Mario triple jumped, and grabbed onto a beam in the ceiling. Just as the two Magikoopas looked up, Mario dropped. Both of the Magikoopas managed to dodge Mario, while getting closer to Luigi's bed. As he approached Luigi the Magikoopa with the tallest cap managed to fire a lightning-quick spell that hit Mario in the chest, sending him flying backwards into a wall. The whole house shook, and a clock that was hanging on the wall tilted a little as if about to fall. The spell that had actually hit Mario, however, wasn't fatal. The two Magikoopas quickly rushed forward to correct this. It was a gouging spell- they decided it was an appropriate measure for Mario's murder of their friend.

"Mario…" Croaked a voice- Luigi was still alive! The Magikoopas turned around in surprise, giving Mario the opportunity to attack. The koopas quickly realized their error, but as they turned back Mario jumped and kicked the tall-capped Magikoopa in the face. He screamed in pain and stumbled backwards, throwing his hands up in front of his face. Mario then turned his attention to the other Magikoopa, grabbing his neck with a beefy hand. The Magikoopa tried to level his wand at Mario's face, but the terror of the situation and his weakening strength caused him to drop the weapon onto the floor. The last thing the Magikoopa saw was the blurry, swirly white of Mario's gloves suddenly being stained by an explosion of red. Mario threw the dead koopa to the ground and walked towards the last Magikoopa, who was whimpering through a broken beak. A burst of excitement and deranged hate suddenly possessed Mario and he kicked as hard as he could.

* * *

"Hurry up!" Bowser growled to the lagging troops behind him. It infuriated him that these were some of his best troops- koopas who could barely keep up after two days of marching. They had finally reached Peach's Castle, and they were all pathetically tired. Even worse, because of their speed, the sun was starting to rise, and even the storm was ending- the night's cover would be lost. It seemed the failures of his army were never ending- he should have just sent them all against Mario to die.

"Go Rope Troopas!" Bowser called. Several koopas skilled at scaling heights ran up to the wall of the castle while trying not to look completely tired. "And Junk Squad- get to the Warp Pipe!" A large portion of the troop hurried east with a varied assortment of junk: broken pipe, blocks, a crowbar, general trash…Bowser laughed a little. This was the best part of his plan. Once Mario had killed the Magikoopas (they were merely meant to slow him down) the first thing he would do would be to jump in the Warp Pipe outside of his house. If it was blocked with all of the junk that a third of the troop had carried with them as part of the plan…he wouldn't be getting anywhere.

"…And the rest of you get ready- because of your own failures the toad guards may attempt to attack. You'll have to fight them off." Bowser watched as the Rope Troopas tossed their grappling hooks up, and then climbed up to Peach's window. They were usually the ones who handled the Peach-nabbing missions, always climbing up the tower to her bedroom.

As the sun started to rise higher and higher Bowser began to grow impatient. It had been nearly five minutes- what the hell were the Rope Troopas doing? The other members of the Troop began to shift from exhaustion to anxiety- toads were weak, but there would still be some koopa deaths if a fight was to break out. Bowser stamped his foot. _Screw it_, he thought. _I'll just go up there myself_. He wasn't as heavy as he appeared, and though it WAS a little difficult, he was able to climb up the long rope to the far-up castle window. Pushing aside the billowing curtains, Bowser jumped inside the bedroom- and then stopped in sheer shock of the scene inside.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

The sun's hot rays beamed down onto the dusty field and onto the heads of several hard-working toads. Among them was Penter, a bitter toad who was having a difficult time working that day with the constant dribbles of sweat soaking into his eyes. Maybe he had a disorder or something, but the sun always caused him to just sweat like a pig. It made him angry- the thunderstorm last night had been calming…and now this heat, so soon? The burning was so extreme that he felt like his eyes were going to melt into puddles of veins.

Nearby the other toads had stopped working, and were instead crowding around that jerk Khad. The other toads were always obsessing over him, worshipping him because he was so damn cool and strong…and Penter wasn't. Penter knew deep inside that a big part of his hate was his endless jealously, but it didn't matter because Khad was an asshole anyway. And besides, it was easier to place his anger of being an outcast on a person rather than let it float around as an abstract infuriation.

As for why he had to work here, in Peach's burning fields? Well, simply enough, he was caught. Any toads living in the area were forced to work in the fields in and around Princess Peach's castle, harvesting crops for her, and preparing products for transportation. It didn't SEEM like she enslaved anyone- she would send out messengers to nearby villagers and politely ask toads to come and work for her- but, if they refused…well…

One day, two years ago, when Penter had still lived in his home village, his friend Rike had been asked by Peach to work in her fields. Rike had refused despite the nasty rumors going around town, and he stayed in his house when her guards came back and asked him to come a second time. That night, Penter had woken up, smelling smoke. Looking out the window he could see that something was on fire on the other side of the village. He rushed downstairs and started to head across the village to find the source of the flames. He wasn't able to get there, however, because of the large crowd in the center of town, circling around a lone figure. It was Rike, kneeling on the ground, eyes gouged out.

Peach was crazy, Penter knew, and it infuriated him that none of the other toads had the courage to rebel against her. Sure the others hated her, but they were so simple-minded that they just accepted the situation and worked tirelessly under her, content with cheap gossip and other trivialities in their pathetic lives. Penter wanted action- he wanted Peach overthrown, and executed.

"By the bee's knees!" Called an obnoxious voice from near Khad's circle. Penter dropped his hoe and looked over to see Toadsworth approaching Khad. What the hell was happening now? Toadsworth was disgustingly loyal to Peach, but he didn't usually care about Khad or whatever the latest fad was. Was something actually going on? Whatever, if they were going to talk like idiots and not work, then neither was Penter. He dropped his shovel and crept over to some nearby shade to listen to the commotion.

* * *

Darkness…swirling darkness…endless…infinite…red…red everywhere…someone…anyone… Luigi woke up in a heavy sweat. The pain that had gone away in his sleep suddenly sprang back and began to gnaw at his entire body again. Luigi gasped. The last thing he remembered was calling for someone…but who was it? He couldn't remember, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. He was in his own bed now, but he knew that something horrible just happened…and he didn't want to think about it.

"Luigi- thank goodness you're awake!" Mario cried from nearby, before breaking into a mild case of coughing. Luigi turned his head a few inches and saw Mario, who had been sitting on a stool, apparently just staring at Luigi for the past few hours. Mario arose and began to approach Luigi to hug him, but Luigi jerked back and then winced in pain.

"NO! I mean…please, don't. Sorry…" Luigi gasped. He wanted to explain that his back felt like a series of broken branches, but he was too tired. He turned his head and almost gasped again, spotting the hideous chaos on the floor. A Magikoopa with its face smashed in, and another with a ripped open neck. Luigi almost assumed that was all, but a puddle of blood was creeping around the corner.

At first Luigi wondered what had happened, but then he wondered why Mario hadn't cleaned it up. Wait, how long had it been? He and Mario had gone out to search for the patrol that was coming…that was at night...around four in the morning. It looked to be about noon now…had Mario just been sitting among the bodies all morning? And…why did Mario look so…weird?

"Mario…" Luigi said, preparing to ask multiple questions. Unfortunately, he started a painful series of coughing. When it was over Mario began to explain what had happened the previous night. As he started to describe what had happened in the battle a terrible thought suddenly appeared in his mind. If there had been a patrol sent forth to scout that night, and then a second, small group came to kill Mario, then…

"Peach," Mario whispered, realizing the mistake he had made.

"Mario?" Questioned Luigi, when he too realized what was going on. Bowser could already be at Peach's Castle, in fact, it had been nearly dawn when the Magikoopas had attacked, and now it was noon. Mario swore and ran for the kitchen. He quickly left some food and water for Luigi, and then he burst out the front door. He was hit by another case of coughing, which caused him to fall to the ground. He recovered quickly, however, gasping a little and getting up. Peach had to be there…she had to be there…he had to hope Bowser had been slowed down somehow. Mario jumped over a large root and into a green warp pipe.

* * *

…_hah hah…it's alive…it's breathing…it will make a fine meal…the mud almost killed it, but it's alive…it's wounded though…worse taste…but I'll heal it…either way, I've found a fine meal…hah hah…_

* * *

"Thank you! Thank you all!" Khad called. The sound of Khad's voice made Penter twitch with anger. God, he hated him. He hated him a lot. And it wasn't just because of Khad's fame, no; it was because of the way he made Penter feel bad, being so different from the other toads.

The toads surrounding Khad were talking too loudly for Penter to hear anything about what was going on, so he started speaking to Blii, one of Khad's fans that Penter didn't completely despise.

"Say, Blii, what did Khad do now?" Penter tried to ask casually, but he knew a faint layer of hate was still dripping out of his voice. Blii giggled, completely unaware.

"Well, Penter, Khad was up in Peach's room, personally bringing her breakfast and all, when suddenly, the Koopa Troop attacked!" Blii began to punch at the air. Penter wanted to punch him in the face. "So Khad beat up three koopas, and then…and then…" Blii began to stutter and then blubber out of excitement. Penter waited somewhat patiently. "Then…then Bowser appeared, and Khad went, and beat him up too!"

Penter tried to hide his shock, but he felt his face pale. He felt like he was going to literally faint. Khad had defeated Bowser? This was impossible. Nobody could defeat Bowser except for Mario and Luigi…how could Khad possibly do it? It was true that Khad had been working out like crazy, but still.

"Is…uh…there any proof?" Penter asked, as a huge drop of sweat fell into his eye.

"Of course! Bowser's screaming and swearing down in the dungeon!" Blii laughed. "We're gonna have Mario execute him once and for all." Blii tried to say something else, but all of the excitement caused him to break down into blubbering again. Penter turned and began to walk away. This couldn't be happening- he had to see Bowser for himself. There was no way the Mushroom Kingdom's worst enemy was down there in the dungeons.

"Halt- you! Orange-spotted toad!" A voice shouted from above, the last three words twisted with a unsubtle layer of derision. "Where do you think you're going?" Princess Peach glared down from a balcony, giving a look that could melt glass. The rabid crowd of toads barely noticed, although a few looked over at Penter, who was staring defiantly back up at Peach. He had decided enough was enough. Once he had seen Bowser, he was going to leave this miserable castle.

"I'm going to see Bowser you ornery hag." Penter called. He turned and continued onwards to the dungeons. The nearby toads gasped, and even Khad stopped talking in order to look over at him.

"GUARDS!" Peach screamed. Penter began to move faster, as a plan began to formulate in his head. Perhaps he could use Bowser to protect himself, and to overthrow Peach. Penter started running, grabbing the dungeon keys hanging near the dungeon entrance. _Toads are idiots, _Penter thought bitterly to himself.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

The koopa opened his eyes. Wood- the ceiling was made of wood. It was a cabin, and for some reason he was sure it was a cabin in the woods. Although he was in a comfortable bed, he felt extremely tense for reasons he couldn't quite explain. Well, obviously, he had no idea where he was, but there was a lot more to it- a smell of leaves filled the room, a smell of tea. And underneath that…another smell…a sinister smell that should have been blindingly obvious, but his head was terribly hazy.

"Hellooo…"

He looked around for the old, spindly voice, and suddenly saw the old koopa woman standing nearby, holding a tray of tea. _Was she there before?_ He thought nervously, before deciding it was a silly question. Of course she had been there before. What if she had just appeared? That would have to mean he was going crazy.

"Uh…where…is this?" He struggled to ask. It felt like he had swallowed a bucket of mud, but he couldn't remember anything about his life beyond MUD…and the vivid color of red. "And…uh…who am I?"

"You're…home, sweetheart." The old woman creaked, placing the tray of tea down on a nearby table. "And your name is Laem". She patted the bed with a wrinkled hand, causing Laem to almost flinch. He didn't want to appear rude…she seemed like a nice old lady…but he couldn't drop the feeling that something was wrong. He began to decide that it was just the general sense of amnesia.

"And you…?"

"I'm your mother," She patted the bed again and sighed deeply, almost to an exaggerated level. "It seems you've hit your head, dear." Her face twisted into a smirk for such a short amount of time that Laem decided that he had imagined it. He nodded his head a little. The old woman…or rather, his mother, smiled, and pushed the tray of tea closer to Laem. "Have some tea and cake."

Wait, what cake? Laem looked over at the tray. Oh- there was definitely some little cakes there. He must not have seen them before. His mother turned and headed back into what appeared to be the kitchen. Laem carefully took a tea cup and began to drink, steadying his hand so that the tea wouldn't spill. The liquid was cold and bitter upon first drinking it, but it suddenly turned red hot when reaching the throat. Laem gasped in surprise with the first gulp and dropped the tea.

"Be careful dear, the tea is hot to help your throat," His mother said, slowly creeping into the room to clean up the broken cup on the floor. Laem apologized quietly and tried a cake at his mother's insistence. It was perfectly normal- although it was mostly without taste. Laem realized he was extremely hungry, and began to eat cake after cake, trying to ignore the increasingly strong feeling that he wasn't supposed to be there.

* * *

Air rushed past Mario's face, blowing his hair up behind him. He would've been worried about his hat falling off, but it was special- it fit tightly on his head. On all of the times that Mario had taken the warp pipe to Peach's castle, his hat had never fallen off. In fact-

THUNK. SNAP.

_oh god_

Mario had suddenly just stopped. He looked down to see what the problem was and almost threw up. His left leg, slightly farther down than his right leg, had hit SOMETHING and the bone inside had broken in half, driving a sharp splinter of bone bursting out of the skin of his leg. The pipe was jammed- jammed with different kinds of trash, all sorts of junk. Tears quietly fell out of both eyes for a second, and then Mario let loose a roaring scream as a stream of blood burst out of his leg. The pain seemed to snap his mind in half, and all Mario could think of was slamming his head into the sides of the walls- but he could barely move without a new burst of the before-unexperienced agony striking again.

Bowser had not understood the physics of the Warp Pipes, and did not understand the falling mechanics of the pipe. He had unwittingly trapped his enemy Mario in a diabolical trap: between a thick layer of junk and down an incredibly deep pipe. Bowser had assumed that Warp Pipes simply transported one sideways. In actuality, Warp Pipes transported a person in the direction that the person first entered the pipe. There was no way of perhaps breaking through the Pipe either: legend had it that toads from long ago had built the pipes throughout the kingdom out of strong emerald- and the legend was true. His head clearing slightly, Mario attempted to pound on the walls of the pipe, completely without use. His strength was no help to him now.

* * *

Bowser sat in the corner of a small, musty dungeon room, a room clearly too small to contain him. He took up nearly half of the room, and when he tried to lay down either his face or his tail brushed the bars of the prison door. Obviously the toads hadn't really believed they would've ever captured Bowser, and contained him in a cell. Well, now they had, and soon they were going to execute him as the grand finale to the numerous hangings of the troop he had brought with him. Presumably they were going to have Mario kill him in some special way.

But the humiliation…the humiliation of getting beaten by some random toad may have been even worse than the upcoming execution. Bowser had been ready to grab Peach and roar at the Rope Troopas, but he had come upon their knocked-out bodies, with a toad standing above them. Behind the toad Peach scurried out of the room and slammed the door shut, at which point the toad leapt at Bowser. And then…Bowser couldn't stand to think about it.

Bowser suddenly heard the opening of a nearby door. Was someone coming that Bowser could take his anger out on? Bowser perked his head up and looked out his cell door. When whatever toad was coming came walking by the door, Bowser was going to light them up. Oh, wait- this toad was _running_. Running towards his death…did someone this foolish truly exist? Bowser backed up a little into the darkness. He wanted to surprise whatever little idiot was coming.

"Damn it!" Penter gasped. He had forgotten how deep and long the dungeons got. At first he appreciated how cool the dungeons were compared to the outside heat, but he was getting so worked up that it didn't matter. Peach's guards were catching up to him, so he needed to find Bowser fast. Penter took a quick look into each of the cells he passed along his run, but Bowser wasn't in any of them. _Wait, was that a shell- _THOOM! Penter fell to the ground as a gigantic burst of flame exploded out of the cell he had just passed. The toad guards that had been right behind him were engulfed, their screams exploding in Penter's ears. Penter crawled away as fast as he could and then turned back, watching the guards die in the blistering heat. The fire burned up the toads extremely fast, and then began to simmer down. Penter crawled back over near Bowser's cell, but kept just outside firing range.

"B-Bowser, uh wait." Penter stammered.

"What the hell? Who are you? I thought I killed you all," Growled Bowser. A large scratching sound, clearly Bowser dragging his nails on the ground echoed from inside the cell.

"Bowser, I…I want to make a deal with you…and help you escape."


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

_Wear it always…it will save you…_

The voice was compassionate and friendly, and Laem desperately wished that it was real. Waking up, he immediately gripped the charm around his neck (which felt like it had been shaking) and took several deep breaths. It was nighttime, and the room was dark. The light of the moon cast a beam through a nearby, tiny window, and the laughing of boos could be heard outside. Laem felt like he wasn't going to get back to sleep so he tried sitting up. He was able to easily, and he fell back again in sheer surprise. He tried wiggling his fingers and moving his feet, and found that he was completely okay- it seemed the cake he had eaten earlier had healed him.

Now it was time to get out of there. Even in the time he had been thinking in the small periods of waking he had had during the day's rest, Laem had realized that something bad was happening in the cabin. He was starting to vaguely remember a scathing, unearthly voice in his sleep, and whenever he inhaled enough air he could catch that awful, mysterious, underlying scent again.

Laem climbed out of the bed and held onto the side as he made sure he could walk again. He started to slowly move around the room, hoping to perhaps find a picture of himself or something that would confirm that this was actually his home.

Laem opened the door that was closest to him and found a small room almost entirely stuffed full of books, with a small space for a window in the back. Going in he turned on a small lamp, and then proceeded to try to look through the books. To his bafflement, however, they were all in some bizarre language he had never seen before. He continued checking books, but the only thing he managed to accomplish was getting a ton of dust in his face. He suppressed his violent urge to sneeze and headed back into the room he had woken up in.

There were two other doors left in the house. One of them led outside, while Laem guessed that the other led to his "mother's" bedroom. The kitchen, however, was directly connected to the room he was currently in. He entered the kitchen and immediately regretted it. First, the strange smell hit him like a bullet bill as soon as he entered, and second, it was absolutely freezing. Even though he couldn't remember anything before the last twelve or so hours, he was pretty sure this was the coldest place he had been in his entire life. He would've turned around and left, but the strange layout of the room had captured his curiosity.

The right side of the room was completely normal for a kitchen- all of the normal appliances, such as a fridge, an oven, a microwave, etc. On the left side of the room, however, was nothing- except a large hole at the very far end of the room. Wes started to walk over, covering his nose as the smell grew stronger and stronger. _What the hell is that smell, and why is it so familiar?_ Laem thought, approaching the hole.

Death. Red. Laem fell back and covered his mouth to stop himself from screaming. The hole was filled with the various body parts of a multitude of species: koopas, goombas, toads, shy guys, and even twisted, disfigured things that Laem couldn't recognize. It was all of the things that whoever actually lived here didn't eat- a monstrous, gory, bloody soup of leftovers. What he had smelled all day was the scent of death: of rotting flesh and fresh dead. They had been the meals of the house's occupant.

"Meals…meal…Laem…meal…oh god," Laem whispered.

* * *

It had been too long since Mario had left- way too long, Luigi decided. He had even begun to ration his bread, as insurance. He knew it was kind of strange how paranoid he was, but he knew it'd have to come in handy sometime.

Luigi carefully divided another sixth of his bread and ate it, keeping an eye on the clock above his bed. _Alright, I have two hours until the next bite, _Luigi decided. He lied back, happy that a clock was within view…or was he happy? Luigi was becoming slowly aware that the clock was more of a curse than a blessing, as it was carefully recording all of the time that Mario was gone, and all of the time that Luigi had to imagine what had happened to Mario. The clock was feeding both his tendencies for paranoia, and his tendencies for carefully keeping track of the time.

Along with the bread, the water had its own schedule as well- One sip of water every four hours. Water was more important to survival than food, so he had to ration it more carefully. Despite how much his stomach hurt the rationing was becoming fun: when Luigi got to take a bite of bread AND a sip of water at the same time it was exciting. Luigi felt like he was enjoying a special meal then.

The pain from the battle still affected him, however. Just leaning in a certain direction would bring on a burst of pain. Well…at least he wasn't one of those poor bastards on the floor. Mario had done a real number on them- they had been absolutely slaughtered. Luigi kind of wished that Mario had cleaned up the bodies before he had left, but, of course, Peach was the priority here. _Yep, who cares about Luigi?_ Luigi thought bitterly. _Who cares about Luigi when there's good old Mario, so god damn super. He's so strong, he's so great, and the stupid toads create all of the historical video games around Mario. _Luigi sighed. He knew it was spiteful and kind of pointless to blame the toads- they were practically forced to follow Peach's orders, producing games like "Super MARIO Bros." and "Super MARIO 64". To be accurate, Luigi had been involved in both of the events those games had been based on, and yet his name wasn't in either of the titles. Even worse, they had completely REMOVED him from "64". Luigi decided that once this was over he was going to ask Peach exactly what was going on there.

Suddenly, two things happened almost simultaneously. The last Magikoopa, apparently still alive, groaned from around the corner. Then the clock on the wall, tilted from Mario's fight, fell and shattered into pieces on the ground.

* * *

"Fine! Fine! Let's go." Peach spat. The toad guards that had approached her nodded and began to escort her down to the dark castle courtyard.

Peach should've been sleeping, but things had not gone well after the unruly toad had made it into the dungeons. Apparently he had unlocked the door to Bowser's cell and had even used Bowser to kill four or five toad guards. He and Bowser had then attempted to escape, but the toad guards had barricaded the dungeon door and would not let them out. This had gone all day now, but Bowser was slowly beginning to break the barricade down, and the toad guards were beginning to panic.

The rebellious toad had called through the barricade and offered that if Peach came to talk then they'd come out peacefully. When asked to elaborate, he had refused to comment. The toad guards were furious and terrified, and Khad had begun to get ready to beat the pulp out of the rebellious toad and Bowser. However, for Peach, the nonsense had gone on long enough. If Bowser managed to break the barricade down he could immediately go on a rampage that could kill several toads, and the rebellious toad could escape in the process. She was already irritated at Mario's absence; she didn't need further chaos to occur.

So it was simple: if she came down and talked through the barricade, Bowser would stop destroying the barricade, and he and the rebellious toad would remain in the dungeons. She didn't know what THEY hoped to accomplish through all this, but as long as she talked with them she could buy time for Mario and his brother to possibly appear.

"Hello? Bowser?" Peach called sarcastically. The door to the dungeons had been covered up by several layers of farming equipment (including a tractor), and Peach had to wonder if Bowser could actually hear her sweet, quiet voice.

There was a moment of silence, and then…still nothing. Khad stood nearby, tense. Peach sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"Bowser? Bowser? If you have something to say…"

Underneath the layers of equipment the door to the dungeons slammed open. Everything that been piled against it was sent flying, including the tractor which landed a few feet away on top of an unfortunate toad. The various, sharp, farming equipment went sailing as well. Most of it managed to miss the toads standing around, although one large pitchfork almost hit Khad. When he sidestepped it it stabbed right through one of his adoring fan's head behind him, who died instantly. Peach, who could've easily been impaled, was only cut on the leg a little by a shovel. Bowser leapt out of the dungeon door and grabbed Peach with a gigantic hand, rolling several feet over the dusty courtyard before coming to a stop about fifteen feet away from the door. Penter stepped out quietly.


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Laem felt like he was rooted to the spot he stood on. He was standing in a house of murder and death, completely amnesiac to the point that he had believed his real name was an obvious anagram for meal. So who the hell was he then? The…koopa who lived here definitely wasn't his mother. Where was he even from? How did he get here? Had he been captured?

Whatever, there was no time to think about any of that. Laem headed straight for the door that should have led out of the house. No luck- locked from the goddamn outside. Laem backed away and then turned towards the small library. He had to get out of there before his "mother" woke up- the window near his bed was too small, so the only way to escape was the window in the library.

Laem crawled across the piled books, hands slowly getting covered with dust. He was halfway to the window when he placed his hand on a _warm _book. Laem fell back a little in surprise, but then squinted to see what book he had put his right hand on.

The outside cover was gray and completely blank- no title at all, but it gleamed brightly. Laem started to move on- his escape of the cabin was top priority- but the book…its warmth was similar to the warmth he sometimes felt from his luck charm. He looked back for a quick second to make sure that his "mother" wasn't standing behind him before he prodded the book open.

He opened to the first page, finding it completely blank. He went to the second and still found nothing. He began to flip through the book, looking for some kind of writing anywhere, but it seemed to be completely empty- _What the-? _Laem stopped and flipped back a few pages. There was a drawing of a face around the middle of the book, a very general face that didn't seem to be attributed to any one species. It was simply: closed eyes, flat neutral mouth, and two skull-like nostrils. It was very creepy, and Laem almost managed to shut the book before the face opened its eyes.

**Hello Wes.**

Laem dropped the book, but it remained open to the page with the face on it. Eyes now open; the face had also begun to smile. Its mouth hadn't moved when it…when it communicated, but its eyes had glimmered. Certainly, the Book seemed a lot more alive now.

**Let's help each other out.**

* * *

Two rooms away from Laem a Thing woke up. It was hungry and wanted a midnight snack. The koopa wouldn't do for now- it was being saved for breakfast, so the Thing decided it'd have to choose from leftovers. The Thing left its room and went into the kitchen, stopping at the large hole broken into the wooden flooring. The Thing chomped on some bones, kidneys, intestines, and a left-over face, but it wasn't enough. The Thing made its way into the main room of the cabin- it'd just eat the koopa now.

But the bed was empty. The koopa was gone. The Thing almost screamed, but it saw that the door to the library was open a little. The Thing floated towards the door.

* * *

"Wes…my name's not…" The koopa paused. He knew for sure now that his name wasn't Laem- so was it Wes? If so, how did this Book know? And what did it want Wes to do for it? Did it even matter? Wes was in trouble, and he needed to get out of there. If he had to trust a magical Book…so be it. "Wh-what do you want?" Wes stammered. The Book grinned.

**Do you want power? Vengeance? Wealth? Anything, ever?**

The Book's grin widened.

"What are you?" Wes asked.

**I am the Book of Power, Wes. Consider me your key to eternal happiness. All I need is for you to help me- just take me with you.**

The Book just wanted to be taken out of the cabin? That didn't seem to be too much of a problem…but still, the Book was creepy. Every time it communicated its smile got wider and wider. It was becoming downright grotesque by this point. Wes looked up at the window he was attempting to reach, and then back at the Book. If-

SLAM! The door to the small library burst open. Floating in the door's opening was a raggedy duplighost, blood and globs of unidentifiable organs trailing down the front of its cloak. It seemed like it was about to scream.

_The thing that lives here is a duplighost?! _Wes thought, too terrified to realize he was remembering something. He started backing away, walking over the Book. _I thought those things were legends…oh my god… _

It seemed that the Duplighost often got its victims by pretending to be the species of the victims, and then luring them back to the cabin in different ways. Wes didn't even have to be lured…merely carried and then placated into not trying to leave the cabin.

"I guess the game is up, dear," Moaned the Duplighost.

**Pick me up. PICK ME UP.**

Wes shook his head at the Book's request and continued to back up towards the window. The Duplighost slowly floated towards him.

**PICK ME UP.**

Wes let go of his last inhibitions and grabbed the Book. He thought he heard a laugh, but he was too terrified to think.

"Are you trying to steal my books?" The Duplighost laughed, almost reaching Wes.

**SLIP YOUR PINKY FINGER BETWEEN THE PAGES.**

The Duplighost continued to advance. It didn't seem to notice the Book's communication.

**DO IT DAMN IT. DO IT.**

The Duplighost leapt, flying at Wes with its mouth wide open. Wes could smell its gory breath as he slipped his left finger between the Book's pages. Wes heard a SNAP that he would later find out to be his finger breaking, and then his vision was blinded by light.

* * *

Mario lied on the heap of trash, wearily digging as deep as he could. The pain had begun to die down, as had his tears, but he felt like his mind felt absolutely fractured from the experiences of the previous night. His only hope now was to try to dig through the trash. He kept cutting his hands on pieces of glass that tore right through his gloves, but that was no matter- it was better than the pangs of starvation that were beginning to gnaw at him. Suddenly, his fingers clamped around something hard, metal, and…warm.

A crowbar. Mario pulled it out of a layer of junk and felt his head throb. This crowbar- this… his head throbbed again. Why was it so _warm_? Why did it feel…so… Mario's head throbbed a third time, and he felt like throwing up for a moment. Suddenly, like lightning, his head cleared, and he felt his mind piece itself back together. It was arranged in a different way now, but…

Mario started to dig into the junk like crazy, using the crowbar to uncover the many clumps of junk in the pile. He felt energized, like he could do it forever.

* * *

"_YOU GO ON THIS MISSION OR YOU DIE- DEATH AS A TRAITOR. THE DEATH WILL BE A SLOW ONE WROUGHT BY YOUR OWN KING". Don't go on the mission and die by your king…go on the mission and die by the Red. The Red? What was the Red again? Wait…king…?_

The light faded and Wes found himself lying on the ground, looking straight up at the dark early morning sky. He was now wearing a weird dark cloak with various purple lines crawling up the front and back of the cloth. Whatever- it warmed him up more than if he was just in his shell. As for his location…it appeared he was now outside, near the Cabin which had a gigantic hole blown in it. Nearby the dead Duplighost was lying in an almost-unrecognizable state, only the patches of white cloth allowed Wes to confirm an identity. Also on the ground was the Book: shut, but now shaded with a light hue of red. Wes started to crawl over it, but he gasped in pain. His pinky finger was broken- snapped at an unpleasant ninety degree angle.

Wes made it over to the Book without putting pressure on his broken finger. He opened the Book carefully, and flipped to the middle, but there was no face to be seen- merely blank pages. He flipped through the entire thing again, but it was completely empty. Wes sighed. He was alone now, in the middle of a dark forest, unaware of who he actually was or where he should be going.

Wes closed his eyes and spun in a circle, pointing out with his right hand. He stopped, opened his eyes, and found himself pointing (unbeknownst to him) to the north. He picked up the Book and started walking, hoping he would find a town. _A town…that's a…thing, isn't it? _Wes questioned himself, before wondering if that was just a concept he had made up in his head.


	6. Chapter Six

**Thank you for all the kind reviews! I appreciate them greatly.**

Chapter Six

"Gughhh," The Magikoopa groaned. Luigi squirmed in his bed, sweating. A Magikoopa was alive, Mario was gone, and he, Luigi, was helpless in a bed, legs too stiff to move. "Urgurckkk…" It groaned again. Since he couldn't see it Luigi wondered what kind of shape it was in. The large blood puddle creeping around the corner was obviously coming from it- would it be dead from blood loss soon?

"I…I'm alickve?" The Magikoopa croaked. _For it to speak like that…Mario must have done something to its face, _Luigi thought nervously. He took some deep breaths and began breathing more quietly, listening to the injured koopa. "I'ck…I'ck cack movk," It gasped again. Luigi slowly took a piece of bread and begin to eat it. "OH NOKE!" The voice suddenly cried out, possibly remembering where it was. Luigi started to choke on his bread in surprise. He coughed loudly and forced himself to drink some water. Luigi put the water down and then froze: the Magikoopa must have heard his choking- his clumsiness was becoming fatal once again.

Total silence followed. The Magikoopa was scared out of his wits. He could clearly see his mutilated friends- their dead bodies seeming to display what he should've been. He looked around for his wand, but it was near the front door of the house. He would have to try to crawl to it, despite the infinite pain in his legs. Back in the fight, when Mario had kicked as hard as he could the second time, he had actually kicked at the Magikoopa's legs. His kick was so hard he had managed to actually destroy (to the point of disintegration) the Magikoopa's kneecaps- if Mario had aimed at his head…_Well, at least I wouldn't be in this situation, _the Magikoopa thought sardonically, crawling slowly.

* * *

"Gotcha, Princess" Bowser sneered quietly. He stood up slowly, his gigantic hand still covering Peach's face. She could still breathe but she had to suck in air as hard as she could, and the whiff of Bowser's hands that she got with it was awful. Nearby, Penter began to casually walk over to Bowser. Was this his chance? Mario was missing- if he was dead, and Bowser took Peach again, then the Mushroom Kingdom throne would be empty- free from tyranny.

Khad approached Bowser, cracking his knuckles. Bowser swung Peach around in front of him and tightly gripped her waist, letting her breathe the fresh early morning air again.

"Don't even try it, mushroom. I'll snap her back like an autumn twig," Bowser laughed. He then stepped on a twig, making everyone in the vicinity jump-including Penter.

"Unhand the princess or I'll be on you like a fuzzy you scoundrel," Growled Khad. _Scoundrel? What a damn blowhard, _Penter thought. He stood next to Bowser as calmly as he could. Khad looked back and forth from Bowser to Penter.

"What are you doing? You…" Khad stopped and turned to Blii. "Hey. What's his name?"

"MY NAME IS PENTER PROCYON, YOU ENORMOUS JACKASS!" Penter yelled, blood boiling. He couldn't stand it- he was sure that Khad knew who he was; Khad was only pretending not to in order to humiliate him.

"Toad drama!" Bowser laughed. The toads were pathetically inferior beings to him, and the fact that one of them actually helped him ESCAPE proved it. "This is all fascinating, but I must be leaving. Before I go, I must thank you for freeing me," Bowser breathed fire at Penter, who barely dodged the attack. He jumped and went into a roll, ending up on the opposite side of Bowser from Khad.

"What are you doing!?" Penter almost screamed. Was everyone in the world against him? Could he make no allies?

"Even for a toad- you're really stupid," Bowser grinned. He punched out with his right fist, aiming straight for Penter. His left hand held Peach back, who looked on in terror. A burst of rage seemed to light a bonfire within Penter and he leaped up onto Bowser's fist. He ran up Bowser's arm, drawing back his own, and then delivered an incredible punch to Bowser's nose. Bowser roared and fell backwards, dropping Peach in the process. She ran into the castle, several guards following after to protect her.

Khad was shocked. Penter had just beat down Bowser- he hadn't knocked him out completely, like Khad could've, but he'd still committed a powerful blow. It was crazy- Khad had been practicing especially to attack Bowser the next time he showed up (and to impress his fans) but now the little scummy nobody Penter was almost doing it without any training.

"You little traitorous maggot," Khad growled, approaching Penter. It was nice that Penter had been allying with Bowser- it meant he didn't even have to try to explain punching Penter in the face. Penter was sent flying, falling onto a nearby path made of concrete. Bowser, who had stumbled back up, ran for the edge of the nearby forest. None of the guards tried to stop him- they wouldn't have had a chance- and Khad let him go, because he wanted to wail on Penter now. Penter had chipped away at Khad's pride- and no one did that.

Khad slowly approached Penter, readying another punch. Penter's anger boiled again, and the sheer, furious, tornado of hate within him spiraled into a core of violent and raging adrenaline. Using the wind within him Penter suddenly leapt, fist up, spinning in a kind of tornado fashion, right into Khad's stomach. The force launched the air out of Khad's lungs, and he bent over, gasping for breath. In a fluid movement Penter brought his hands down on Khad's head and slammed it into the concrete, the cracking sound of Khad's skull giving him the energy for one final attack: he let go of Khad's head and leaped onto his back, slamming down with force enough to break Khad's spine.

And so, the most famous toad of the Mushroom Kingdom was murdered.

* * *

The atmosphere of the room was of a cold, frightening silence.

"Whoo arck youk?" The Magikoopa asked from around the corner. Luigi stayed silent for a moment, weighing his options. It sounded like the Magikoopa was paralyzed in some manner as well and that he was just as frightened if not more frightened as Luigi was of him. Luigi certainly didn't blame him- Mario's violence towards the dead Magikoopas had been incredible, and they were easily visible to both Luigi and the survivor.

"I'm Mario," Luigi said in a loud voice, hoping to disguise the fact that he was actually a wounded Luigi. The Magikoopa remained silent, so Luigi continued. "And who are you? Are you one of the Magikoopas that attacked me?"

Silence- the Magikoopa considered his actions. Why wasn't Mario attacking? Was he hurt? What about Luigi? What if- what if that was Luigi speaking? Luigi had been in the bed around the corner, hadn't he? So if that was Luigi…then where was the actual Mario? _Well…if he's going to give me a fake name, I'll give him a fake name as well. _The Magikoopa thought.

"I'mck…Kamek…and I'mck soryck." Reene was sorry. He was sorry he chose not to hang himself when he got the letter indicating he was to enter the Koopa Troop. He was sorry he didn't at least try to escape the Troop, to wander off into the wilderness. He was sorry that he executed his friend when he was told to, out of sheer fear of being executed by Bowser. He was sorry that he never realized that there was a REAL reason that an ARMY was formed for a castle full of weak toads and two humans. And he was sorry that when the truth of the situation hit him again, eight years after he had joined the Koopa Troop that he didn't put his wand up to his own head and blow himself away.

"You're sorry, huh? Well, leave this house now or I will attack," Luigi announced loudly. He knew Kamek probably couldn't move, but it was at least worth a try. _Where have I heard the name Kamek before?_ Luigi wondered. Another moment of silence followed. Then Luigi heard the sound of garbled sobbing.

* * *

Bowser ran through the forest as the sun rose, huffing, wheezing, and coughing, screaming at himself on the inside. Another damn toad had gotten the better of him, punching him right in the face. How could this be happening? Was he getting old? Was that why weaklings could so easily overpower him now? Bowser resisted the urge to roar in anger.

No matter. That was all he could tell himself. It seemed that Mario had actually been killed by the Magikoopas that had been sent to his house (how else could his continued absence be explained?). Now Bowser would just have to get through the forest, back to his own castle and attack again, this time with full force, against a basically undefended kingdom. Those toads were strong, but they still wouldn't have what it'd take to face the full Koopa Troop.

Bowser almost hid when he saw the figure ahead. _DAMN IT! I AM NOT A KOOPA WHO HIDES!_ Bowser thought angrily. He charged forward, but stopped when he realized it was a koopa- a Magikoopa with an archaic dark cloak, carrying a pale red book. _What is with this guy's get-up? Is he part of the Troop? _Bowser wondered, confused.


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

SNAP…SNAP. The breaking of twigs under Wes' feet excited him. He had power- he truly had power. He couldn't remember his life before waking up in the Duplighost's cabin, but he knew that it was probably a weak, miserable one. Now…things were coming up aces. SNAP…SNAP…

…SNAP. That sound didn't come from under his feet. Wes stopped and looked ahead. A large koopa monstrosity with horns, a spiked shell, and a bruised head had appeared ahead. Wes started to step back at first, but then stopped. He could handle whatever this _thing_ was…at least, now.

"Interesting outfit- you must be here to escort me back home," Bowser asserted. He didn't recognize the Magikoopa's outfit, but who else could he be? Could he be a Rouge from Mushroom City? It didn't seem likely- with Mushroom City officially breaking off with Peach's "Mushroom Kingdom" and becoming its own anarchist state, Peach had angrily destroyed any remaining ties, refusing the higher-ups of Mushroom City (naturally limited in their ruling power, but still somewhat necessary) from entering the official Mushroom Kingdom. These higher-ups were rumored to be Magikoopas of a special degree.

"I am not here to escort you…I don't even know who you are," Wes replied.

"I am Bowser, king of the koopas, and ruler of the Koopa Kingdom," Bowser snapped, "and you are a koopa, so you are here to serve me,". Bowser didn't care anymore if this Magikoopa was a member of the Mushroom City higher-ups or not. He was angry and humiliated from the toads, and he was getting a clear message of disrespect from the Magikoopa.

"I am willing to travel with you to the Koopa Kingdom. However, I am not a servant," Wes said. If there was a Koopa Kingdom there was a good chance that was where he was from. But if that was so, why did he get so many bad vibes from this King Bowser?

"You ARE a servant," Bowser growled, "And you are ESCORTING me back to my castle."

"False," Wes snapped back. With the power he had gained came a great deal of courage. "I am servant to no one, especially not whatever you are."

Bowser twitched.

"Then YOU WILL DIE." Bowser was done. He had been knocked out by a toad, locked in a cell, tricked and beaten up by ANOTHER toad, and now confronted with such bold disrespect by one of his own people. His rage was boiling, and now it was going to be taken out on this idiotic Magikoopa.

Bowser rushed forward, swinging a hand with sharp claws out. Wes jumped and rolled over-and-over through a patch of grass. Bowser turned and rushed at him again, this time with a fist pulled back. Wes tried to summon some kind of burst of energy, but nothing came. He moved a little and Bowser punched the side of his head, sending him flying into a pile of pine needles. The Book landed a few feet away. Wes finally realized what he had to do. He ran for the Book, opening it slightly and sticking his broken pinky inside. Nothing happened.

Bowser rushed at him again, leaping into the air this time and falling backwards so that his shell presented a deadly weapon. In a rush Wes slammed his ring finger _and _middle finger into the Book. SNAP CRACK- Another light burst into Wes' vision, and the sound of Bowser's roar pierced into his mind.

* * *

A spring- a _springboard_. Mario dug the item out completely and then carefully set it so that it was flat on the pile of trash. Mario prepared to jump on, but the pain of his broken leg stopped him. He dug around in the trash he had pulled up and found the rope he had pulled out earlier. He closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and began to tightly tie the rope around his leg and the broken bone.

_****333#ddddeeeejerrretttteeee****888338328288288838383283rrjrjrijeowjpefijwpejp_

He woke up crying. There was something wrong with his mouth. Mario moved his tongue along the top row of his teeth and found that several of them had pieces chipped off. He spat the little white bits out and climbed onto the spring. The broken leg dragged along the edge.

Mario steadied himself to jump. It looked like a good spring board- it should get him out. He'd just have to make sure to land outside the pipe. He jumped, landed on the spring, and then sprung off. The ascent was as fast as the descent, and after about ten seconds Mario saw the light of the Sun. He flew out above the pipe, and then started falling to the ground. He tipped himself head-first towards the ground, and then went into a tight roll upon landing. He was free from the Pipe.

Mario coughed loudly.

* * *

Screams. The red haze faded and Penter beheld Khad's mangled body. It was official- he was stronger than Khad. He was better than Khad.

"HE KILLED KHAD!" Someone screamed. Blaine groaned and pushed ahead. Toads were idiots- it was a simple fact. This fact came up so often during his line of work that it didn't bother him in the slightest anymore to distrust his own species. For instance: a huge mob had formed in the castle courtyard, panicking about Khad getting murdered. This was right after the idiots started freaking out about Mario being dead.

_Peach is probably still sleeping_, Blaine thought, still a little tired. Must be nice to be royal- excepting the Bowser stuff, of course- just rule however you like over a gang of idiots, with the promise of two clowns always there to protect you. Blaine didn't like Mario and Luigi- Luigi was a clumsy moron, almost toad-like in his mental facilities, while Mario was just plain unpleasant.

Mario enjoyed protecting the princess just a little too much. Blaine could easily remember when Bowser had taken over Peach's Castle and filled it with his own troop. Mario had charged in and coated the walls red. Blaine, like the other toad guards, had been punished for their uselessness, and had been tasked with cleaning up the mess afterwards.

In the end, toad guards were rather useless. It usually took a ratio of three toads to kill one koopa, and they had never stopped Bowser from taking Peach without Mario's help. No, Blaine understood that the true purpose of the toad guards was to help the Mushroom Kingdom look nice when observed by the other kingdoms nearby- and to stop small toad squabbles. When Blaine heard that Khad had been murdered, he assumed that it was an idea blown up from some toad maybe trying to _hit_ Khad. All the toads lost it once-in-a-while. It was a common occurrence for someone to begin to crumple under the daily pressure of endless work, and to randomly strike out.

Blaine had heard about the strange toad Penter's rush into the dungeons the previous day, but Blaine hadn't actually expected the situation to last very long. In fact, he didn't even remember the previous day's incident until he had made it through the crowd and saw Penter standing over Khad's dead body. Blaine's jaw dropped and he was hit by a strong sense of panic.

"Stay back! Stay back, or I'll…" Penter paused. He didn't want to be in this situation. His hatred of Princess Peach and Khad was strong, but he didn't feel the same way towards the other toads- they disgusted him, but in the end they were victims of the Mushroom Kingdom just as much as he was. Still- he had no choice. "…or I'll kill you," Penter finished.

_Spirits, this crazy freak is serious_, Blaine thought. He drew his sword. This was the first time he had ever had to use his sword against another toad.

_Neither of us ever had a choice, did we? _Penter thought bitterly. Blaine swung his sword at Penter. Penter grabbed his arm and tried to throw him to the ground, but the strength wasn't there anymore. He had truly hated Khad, and that had given him the strength to crush him- but he didn't have that kind of hate for the toad guards.

"KILL HIM NOW!" Someone in the crowd screamed. The group surrounding Penter and Blaine was growing frenzied, and some of them were beginning to pelt things at Penter. Blaine shook Penter's grip off, and jumped back. Someone threw a hammer at Penter and it hit the side of his head. It hurt him a bit but now Penter had a weapon.

"You idiots!" Blaine growled. Penter now approached, swinging the hammer back. Blaine stabbed at Penter and broke the skin on his chest, but Penter swung his hammer down and smacked Blaine's sword to the ground. Blaine leapt down into a kneeling position and grabbed the sword, but Penter was already bringing the hammer against Blaine's head like a golf club.

"Sorry…" Penter offered. He really did feel bad. The toad guards seemed much more like heroes than Khad, even if they were practically useless.

The hammer smashed into Blaine's face and he fell back a few feet. He was knocked out, with a huge, nasty bruise on his face, but he'd live. Penter stepped over him and swung the hammer threateningly. The toads that surrounded the fight (including the remaining toad guards) backed off, and a path was cleared to the castle gate. Penter wasn't taking any more chances on trying to be cool- he ran.


	8. Chapter Eight

**There is a considerable drop in views after this chapter, and I want to make a statement in case it's the reason I think it is: Seigal is NOT a special character. The character of Seigal is merely named after the dedication in the first chapter- he is NOT an OC of the person, and he is NOT a magical mary sue or any of that crap. Seigal is not the "hero" of the story, and he's not going to become the focus of attention- I try to give everyone in the story a generally equal amount of time.**

**Thank you, and please continue reading.**

Chapter Eight

_Kamek! _Luigi remembered. Kamek had been Bowser's second-in-command back when Mario and Luigi had been growing up. They'd fought him numerous times, but apparently Kamek had gotten too old and had given up fighting. Was it possible he was back? If it really was Kamek than he should have powerful magic- warping magic, even. If he had warping magic…why hadn't he left already? Was he out of magic? …Was that even how magic worked?

Maybe it wasn't even Kamek. Maybe the Magikoopa was lying just like Luigi was lying. Whatever the case, this was getting terribly dangerous. Luigi was out of food, and Mario was still gone. Taking the warp pipe outside and coming back should have taken about ten minutes. It had been thirty hours now. Luigi had been counting- he had had little else to do during his sleeplessness.

Hours and hours of work paid off and Kamek had managed to reach his wand near the door. Ha- Kamek. He was beginning to literally think of himself as Kamek. The great Magikoopa hero- yes, that's who he was, surviving in Mario's house for a day-and-a-half. And now…and now he would escape. He leveled the wand at his face. _Yes- death…let it all end, _He thought. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine a killing spell, but he couldn't do it. Hot tears began to fall from his eyes. He wanted death, but he couldn't do it. He didn't have the will power. He almost sobbed again, but he stopped himself. If he couldn't kill himself he'd just have to keep on living- and in that case, he'd need to escape.

He started to cast a magic spell designed to warp him away, but he didn't have enough magic left. _Damn it all! _Kamek thought. He'd have to use a communication spell instead. He was about to cast the spell when the door started to creak open. He quickly switched to an invisibility spell.

Luigi heard the door slowly open with a maddening creak. _Thank god, it's Mario. _Luigi thought, but then the alternative hit him: what if it was more koopas, here to make sure that he and Mario were dead?

"Mario?" Luigi called hollowly, on the verge of crying. He stared in terror at the corner of the wall until Mario appeared- and then he gasped. Mario's eyes were dull, blank- staring off into nothing. His left leg, which he was dragging behind him, had bone sticking out of it. Mario had tied a rope around his leg just to keep it from collapsing. The rope was completely coated with dried blood, a malicious rusty red. And somehow worst of all was the long, curved crowbar that Mario was dragging along the floor. It appeared to be _glowing_, but when Luigi blinked it was perfectly normal again- it must've been the tears in his eyes.

"Mario, there's…" Luigi started to say something about the Magikoopa, but then he stopped. Mario should've run into the Magikoopa when he came in. Luigi didn't hear anything, and it didn't seem like there was time for Mario to stop and kill the Magikoopa between the time he came through the door and appeared in Luigi's sight… no, the Magikoopa must have already escaped.

"Luigi," Mario droned, before breaking down into a fit of coughing. He had left the door open, so the Magikoopa began crawling with all of his might. The pain in his face was giving him a heavy migraine, and his legs continued to produce unbearable misery, but he crawled anyway. He was halfway through the door when he realized the invisibility was beginning to wear off. He stopped and began casting the communication spell. He'd have to send it before Mario caught him. After that, he'd have to hope he could bargain somehow with Mario, and wait for help to arrive. He waved his wand, creating a blue light at the end of it.

"Helloke? Helloke? This ick Kamekk," He said, speaking into the blue light. "I am insicke Marioke's house, I repeack, I am insicke Marioke's house. Send help, pleackse…" The blue light cut off, and the Magikoopa was no longer invisible. He had given the wrong name, partially on accident, but really it was a good thing- they'd send help faster if they thought he was the legendary hero Kamek, wouldn't they?

Mario turned at the voice and turned to see the Magikoopa lying halfway through the doorway. Mario twitched and then screamed, limping towards the helpless Magikoopa on the ground. Mario brought the silver crowbar high into the air and then brought it down onto the helpless head. The shining silver color of the crowbar was turned a deep red. Mario smashed the tool into the Magikoopa again and again, and in the process destroyed the wand. Around the corner, Luigi realized what the repetitious sounds of mashing pulp were.

A minute later Mario appeared around the corner again. Splatters of blood covered his entire body. The _matter _dripping off of the crowbar was completely unspeakable. Mario coughed hideously and started to smile. A trickle of blood ran down from his mustache.

"Do you like my new crowbar, Luigi?" Mario swung the crowbar around in the air. Flecks of blood shot off of it, some of which landed on Luigi's bed. "I found it…in a green pipe. But who cares about…" Mario burst into coughing. "…green, huh? Red is the best color, don't you agree? It's everywhere," Mario exploded into another coughing fit, practically bending over with the force of it. "There's red…inside everyone. You've just got to...get the layers off…"

* * *

Seigal sighed. He opened the desk he was sitting at and began to rummage around inside, looking for some form of entertainment. Aha! Some Magikoopa had left a wand inside. Seigal waved it around a bit, hoping to find some hidden magical talent, but he found nothing, and he put the wand down with a sigh. This was boring- so boring. He was to sit in at the communications station in case there were any incoming magical messages, of which there was maybe one every five hours. Was this really what he had been working for? His careful diligence and incredible optimism had pushed him into the higher ranks of jobs at Koopa Castle, but as he had found out, this simply meant less dangerous jobs. His daily schedule included doing jobs directly for the koopalings, but these jobs were usually menial and degrading. He was serving royalty, but still. And the pay! The pay hadn't changed at all.

Still, the amount of time that Seigal ruminated over the bad parts of his job was tiny compared to all the time he was appreciative of it. He could be out there fighting like most koopas, trying to defeat an unstoppable enemy: Mario. Seigal actually admired Mario for his endless strength. He had hope that someday the Mushroom Kingdom and the Koopa Kingdom could come to an understanding. He didn't know why Bowser insisted on capturing Peach again and again. If only Bowser didn't, perhaps…

The five wands in front of Seigal suddenly came to life with a blue light. They normally laid on the table in a star formation, but now they stood upright and touched tips, glowing blue. A large crackling echoed from the wands, and then a voice.

"Helloke? Helloke? This ick Kamekk. I am insicke Marioke's house, I repeack, I am insicke Marioke's house. Send help, pleackse…" A voice gasped. Then there was another crackling and then static. Then the wands lost their blue light and fell back down with a clatter.

Seigal sat in silence for a moment, processing the message. Was that really the great Magikoopa Kamek? Kamek had disappeared years ago, apparently leaving on a journey to the west. No one knew where he had gone, or if he was coming back, but now here he was on a transmission…inside Mario's house. Something big was going on.

Seigal hopped out of his chair. He had to investigate this. He'd go to Mario's house and reason with him calmly. Maybe…maybe he could even start something- peace between the Mushroom Kingdom and Koopa Kingdom. _Yes! _Seigal imagined. _I'll apologize on the behalf of King Bowser. And I'll rescue Kamek. Oh my god, I could be a hero!_

* * *

Penter stopped, gasping for air. He was deep into the woods now, and everything was blurry. He had run so hard that his _eyesight _was now affected. Penter leaned up against a tree, and then slowly sat down against it. He was pretty far away from Peach and Mushroom Castle now- but he needed a plan. He had gotten close to overthrowing Peach, but Bowser had ruined it. He had gotten really close- and now that he had tasted the edge of victory, he needed more of it.

No, this was not over. In fact, it had just begun.


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Seigal snuck through the halls of Koopa Castle, making sure no one was around. It was dinnertime, so the koopalings should have been occupied at least. Pretty much everyone except the day's communications officer (him) would be busy with kitchen duty, so sneaking out of the castle with a mini-airship wouldn't be too hard.

He was almost to the docking bay when two guards came walking down the hallway. Seigal quickly hid behind a statue of Bowser.

"Stop…stop! There shouldn't be anyone around here…"

Seigal recognized the voice as Qourk, a mischievous shy guy guard who was always passing around gossip.

"What's the problem, Qourk? You're always so nervous…"

The other voice was Plack, a goomba, and Qourk's simple…sidekick, for lack of a better word. The two often conspired together to plan harmless schemes.

"I have reason to be nervous! The walls…um..." Qourk suddenly stopped talking. Seigal wondered if Qourk knew of his presence. It seemed not, as Qourk began talking again, and now at an increased rate. "Plack, about seven hours ago the communications officer told me that a telekinetic burst of energy issued forth from the communication wands, originating from a location near Mushroom Castle."

_Seven hours? That was just before I came in as communications officer! _Seigal thought, a little annoyed. Well, he had ended up hearing something far more interesting anyway- Kamek.

"Tele…" Plack ventured.

"Telekinetic!" Qourk burst forth excitedly. "And the energy burst was incredible! From the combination of the brightness of the wands and the intensity of the noise they made, it seems that powerful magic was used. Magic more powerful than…than…"

Another bout of silence followed.

"I'm…uh, I'm a little lost," Plack admitted. Qourk groaned loudly.

"It's…" Qourk cleared his throat. "There's something out there, Plack. Something with magic power beyond anything anyone's ever seen…and…I can't be sure, but…I think it may be communicating the success of our plan."

"Oh goody! …Uh…com-una…" Plack struggled.

"Communicating."

"Does that mean the plan is working?"

"That's right, Plack…we're golden this time! C'mon, let me show you the book Wendy showed me…"

Qourk and Plack's voices faded away down the hall. Seigal shook his head. It sounded like they were planning another pointless scheme. Seigal took a quick peek down the hallway to make sure they were completely gone before heading into the Mini-Airship Bay. Seigal slipped an ID Card from out of his shell and used it to open the gate to the outside. He then got into one of the mini-airships and used his card to activate it. The magical system that controlled the entire bay logged his name, his ID number, and the current time. The mini-airship was then activated.

He definitely wasn't supposed to be using a mini-airship without permission, but if he brought back Kamek he'd have to be forgiven. And he was sure he was going to find Kamek. If he had just gotten Kamek's transmission from Mario's house, and Kamek was still alive, then things must be going smoothly there. Perhaps Kamek was already making peace with Mario. Then he and Seigal could come back to Koopa Castle with good news!

* * *

SPLOTCH. SPLORTCH. The sickening sounds continued to emanate from the kitchen. Luigi struggled not to throw up again- his throat already hurt from the last three times.

It had been several hours since Mario had come home. Luigi had fainted from shock, only to wake up with the sun almost completely down and Mario standing- just standing there, staring at him with a manic look. He held the crowbar limply in his hands, its shine almost beautiful with the orange sun reflecting off of it from the still-open doorway. When Mario had seen that Luigi was awake he had loudly offered to "make breakfast", and had grabbed two of the dead Magikoopas on the floor, including the one that had called himself Kamek.

Mario had now been making breakfast for the last ten minutes. Luigi couldn't see what was happening from where the bed was, but he could hear everything- oh god, could he hear everything. The rubbery sounds of the crowbar hammering into the Magikoopas long-dead flesh. The SPLOTCHES as various, bloody juices burst out of the bodies with every hit. Coughing…constant, wet coughing. And Mario's whistling- the worst part: some slowed down, distorted version of the classical theme used in the historical games. It was off-key, and with random notes completely missing.

Outside it began to rain. Luigi tried to breathe slowly and think rationally. He'd have to escape- Mario had gone completely, murderously insane. Even though it hurt, he'd have to roll out of bed and crawl for the front door.

Luigi made it onto the floor as quietly as he could and began moving…slowly. He found that the crawl didn't hurt as nearly as much as he thought it would- in fact, it barely hurt it all. The lack of pain gave him newfound strength and he began moving faster. Unfortunately, he soon made it to the Magikoopa's body that Mario DIDN'T take to make breakfast with- it was directly in his way. Luigi considered going around, and he looked to the right- right to where Mario and the bodies were.

One of the bodies…one of the bodies was completely unidentifiable. Mario had beaten it with the crowbar until it was entirely a chunk of red gore. The other body was on the kitchen countertop, being converted to such a state. Luigi gaped in shock and immediately regretted looking over. He turned back towards the body and began crawling over it. He tried to hold his breath but the intense stink of death forced its way up his nose, and Luigi begin to involuntarily cry. By the time he had made it over his green suit was coated with damp red, and smelled the same as the corpse. Luigi turned towards the door. Mario began laughing.

Luigi squeezed his eyes shut tight in fright, but when he looked back he saw that Mario was still hard at work. He hadn't turned around. Luigi took a deep breath to get a bit of courage, but all he managed to do was inhale the smell of rot. He retched into the floor as quietly as he could, and then began crawling again. He made it too the door and started to crawl out.

The storm had turned vicious, just like the night two days ago when the koopa advance patrol had appeared. _It would've just been better if they had captured Peach, _Luigi thought miserably. _Then Mario and I could've just gone on another adventure to save her. If only we had ignored that tip about Bowser's attack…_

Luigi crawled out the door, down the porch steps, and into the mud. He considered standing but decided it was too risky. He continued through the muck, trying not to swallow the torrential mud.

Luigi was three-quarters of the way to the Warp Pipe when the door to the house, which had quietly blown shut from the wind, suddenly slammed open. Mario stood in the doorway, clothes blood-soaked, crowbar in one hand, eyes wild, and mouth horribly ajar.

"MEAt! WhErE iS mY mEaT?" Mario screeched, an unearthly rhythm trembling through his words.

"No!" Luigi cried, trying to crawl faster. The mud was slippery, but he was almost to the Warp Pipe. He just had to get inside.

"MeAt!" Mario screamed, running at Luigi with the crowbar.

"No!" Luigi cried again, his arms slipping, causing him to collapse face-first into the mud. He struggled to raise his head.

"ChEwY mEaT!" Mario screamed, plunging the crowbar down into Luigi's skull.

* * *

Seigal flew over the muddy plains, trying to figure out a map that he had found. _Mario's house should be to the west…through the Forest…well, really, I guess it's in the MIDDLE of the Forest…heck, is the whole Mushroom Kingdom the Forest…?_

A bolt of lightning suddenly struck a tree, surprising Seigal. He lost control of the mini-airship for a moment and it plowed softly into the mud just outside of the edge of the Forest. Seigal frowned and tried to restart the engine, but it seemed the motors were now clogged with mud. Seigal got out, opened the engine door, and jammed his right hand inside the motor, scooping numerous handfuls of mud out.

"Aren't you…worried…about that thing…turning on?" A mud-gagged voice gasped. Seigal jumped in surprise and turned around. It was King Bowser- he was coated with mud and bleeding all over. A horn was missing and his head was bent at an odd angle. Seigal hailed Bowser quickly and began bowing. Bowser shook his head and fell to his knees. "Stop…stop, damn it."

Seigal stopped.

"Now…I don't know…who…you are…" Bowser continued.

"Lord, my…my name is Seigal Ca…"

"And I don't care," Bowser interrupted. "But…I am…dying."

Seigal tried not to show his shock. Bowser looked towards the top of the nearby trees. As Seigal waited for Bowser to continue speaking, he listened to the sounds of the wind. It was the sounds of natural existence: the wild whistling through the trees and the sounds of the leaves blown off of their branches, and the sound of the storm building energy and throwing bolts down nearby onto both the dry and muddy ground.

"Crawling all this way…I'm glad I found another koopa…before I died. Another of my own," Bowser gritted his teeth in anger. "I was killed…by a Magikoopa. I survived…all of the fights against Mario…for so long…but then the toads and the Magikoopa…no, no…it was…just the Magikoopa, only…" Tears fell from Bowser's eyes. Seigal had no idea how to react- he had never seen Bowser remotely sad…only angry or mildly content.

"Um, I'm sorry…" Seigal almost reached out to pat Bowser's arm, but thought better of it.

"And my children…what have I left in this world?" Bowser's tears continued to flow. "Useless trash…all eight of them…wastes of space. They don't deserve the kingdom…"

What little of the sun could be seen through the storm had set. The stormy darkness was now all that surrounded Seigal and Bowser.

"My line…ends with me. Take this," Bowser dug around in his shell and pulled out a green crystal the size of Seigal's right hand. Seigal had to use both hands and a bit of strength to hold the heavy object. "It was called the…Rigex in ancient times; however…that merely means…Stone. Call it…however you like. It is the sign…of royalty."

A strange opaqueness was beginning to come to Bowser's eyes. Seigal stood in awe. He was actually witnessing the death of the King.

"There's a Magikoopa…in a black cloak. Beware him. He killed me." Bowser croaked. His body began to drift back and forth, about to topple over. Seigal backed up a bit. A long, quiet moment passed, uninterrupted by thunder.

"I…think my life has been a waste." Bowser fell to the ground. A large puddle of mud was tossed up with the landing, but none of it reached Seigal. Lightning crashed and the sky flickered in all directions. Seigal didn't stop to think. He got into the mini-airship (now working again) and headed back for Koopa Castle. He had to tell everyone what had happened. He had to show them the Rigex.


	10. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

The coffin was slowly lowered into the muddy grave. Water had already begun to fill the hole, prompting the toads to toss in dirt as quickly as possible. Khad's many supporters were there, as were an assortment of regular toads. Peach herself was at the castle- she didn't want to be out in the rain, and Mario's continued absence was beginning to scare her.

Earlier that day, Peach had finally wondered to check the Warp Pipe near the castle. The toads she had sent to go through to Mario's house reported that an assortment of trash was blocking the way. Peach was infuriated- it was clearly Bowser's work. She decided she'd send a party of toads through the Forest first thing in the morning. For now, she'd let them weep over their idol Khad.

Blaine stood at one corner of the proceedings, leaning up against a tree. He now sported a large hammer mark over his left eye- a scar- that burned a little at every touch. Needless to say, it was not pleasant to stand out in the rain.

Blaine tried to light a cigarette, but it was too damp out. He swore and pocketed his lighter. This had been one hell of a bad day. Penter, who seemed like a harmless nobody, was now enemy number one. He had killed a fellow toad and had escaped. Blaine had been knocked out by him because of some moron in the crowd, and a good number of toad guards had died in Bowser's escape. The ones that were remaining were too terrified to chase after Penter- they had made a feeble attempt after Peach screamed at them, but they didn't go very far on purpose, and reported back to Peach that they had found nothing.

_Pathetic!_ Blaine would've gone out, but he had only woken up an hour ago, just about when the storm had started. Besides, who knew how far Penter had gone now? Could they even catch up to him? If he was heading for Mushroom City, it'd be extremely difficult to catch him before he was safe inside. As much as Blaine wanted justice for the slippery killer…it didn't seem feasible.

Someone nearby was crying so hard that Blaine could hear them over the thunderstorm. Khad _was _pretty cool, and his death _was_ sad, but people were crying over him like he was family. It was strange. Heck, even before Khad came to Peach's fields there was another toad that everybody worshipped: Zip…now that guy was cool. _Whatever happened to him anyway? _Blaine wondered. As soon as Khad had come, it seemed that people had stopped caring about Zip. _Is it somehow necessary for toads to have an idol? And does the current idol change every few years? _A nasty headache began to pound away at Blaine, and he stopped his line of thought immediately.

Lightning crashed again and the toads that had stayed through all of the proceedings finally began to shuffle away back to the cabins near the castle. Blaine followed after them, looking back to see the lonely shy guy grave keeper quickly filling in the rest of the grave. Ahead of Blaine the toads were fervently whispering together, faces solemn among the torrential rain. Something was being planned.

* * *

It was midnight when Seigal finally returned to Koopa Castle. He parked the mini-airship in the docking bay and carried the Rigex carefully using both hands. It was a struggle just to get it up into the castle's main hallway. As Seigal made his way down the hall, Roy Koopa, Bowser's nastiest son, came out of a room behind him.

"Hey! You! Servant! I need…" Roy stopped as Seigal turned around, the large Rigex gem gleaming craftily in the shadowy light of the castle. "Oh *# &" Roy gasped. He turned and ran.

"Wait! Prince Roy…!" Seigal stopped and sighed. Roy was far out of hearing range by now. Seigal turned back and continued his way down the hall. He passed several other working koopas who turned and gaped at the Rigex, entirely dropping whatever they were doing. Seigal pressed on- was he the only koopa who didn't know what the heck the thing was? Ludwig, Bowser's oldest son, appeared from up ahead. He too stared in shock at the Rigex and then tried to grab it.

"What are you doing? Give me that!" Ludwig snapped, reaching for the Rigex. Seigal backed up a little.

"Prince…er…Ludwig…Bowser gave this to me…he said I was the new king," Seigal muttered, at first quiet but then growing louder. If he was the new king, he wouldn't have to take orders from the koopalings anymore would he? …Or anybody?

Ludwig's strength won out and he snatched the Rigex away from Seigal. He then noticed the koopas Seigal had passed earlier making their way down the hall, pupils entirely white.

"What the hell?" Seigal gasped. Ludwig swore and grabbed Seigal. His hands were big enough to carry the Rigex in one hand and Seigal in the other. He ran into a nearby storage room and slammed the door shut, propping a chair up beneath the knob. He threw the Rigex down onto a nearby table and dropped Seigal. Outside the door came the sound of feet shuffling against stone. The sound was growing louder. "I repeat, what the he…" Seigal began.

"You need to give it back," Ludwig demanded. "I can't take it from you…so you HAVE to GIVE it back."

* * *

The creature shuffled through the woods, sucking in cold air and returning it rancid and bloody. It had stopped raining, but the creature didn't need any cover- the crowbar it carried by its side was all it needed: a dare to anything to attack. Still, some things were foolish, and believed that the man in red was weak because of his broken leg. They were so, so wrong. The creature made a painting out of them. His paintbrush was rather hard, and he only used one color, though.

He was completely oblivious to the pain in his leg. His only thought was of a princess: a princess in pink. She was all he could think about now. He had to find her and break her neck. Yes, that's what he needed. He needed to kill the princess.

* * *

Penter's wanderings through the Forest had been mostly eventless. There were a few boos to be dodged, as well as a village he almost walked into- the village where his sister lived. He knew she wouldn't help him with his plans.

A few hours after passing the village he happened to come by a bizarre cabin with a hole blown into it along with an assortment of books in a pile outside. He had looked in the books, but the text was in some unrecognizable language. When he approached the cabin, a terrible feeling of unease swept over him, and he turned back to the route he had been taking. The cabin was a bad place.

Eventually Penter emerged from the Forest, finding himself at the edge of a great expanse of mud. He couldn't see it because of the darkness but the muddy plains extended for many miles into the distance. No, the only thing he noticed was the hulking body a couple of meters out from the Forest. It was hard to tell what it was, so Penter crept up and checked.

It was Bowser- no doubt about it. He was lying face-down in the mud, but his massive shell and signature horns were clearly visible. Penter gathered some courage and slowly poked Bowser's head. He thought his heart would burst from the tension, but nothing happened- Bowser was dead. _How did this happen? _Penter wondered. He wasn't strong enough to roll Bowser over so there was no way to check for wounds. Penter paused and then shrugged. He walked back to the closest tree at the edge of the Forest and sat, thinking over the situation.

What were his options now? It wouldn't be safe to remain in the Mushroom Kingdom…Peach would be sending guards out every day to try to find him, along with sending "Wanted" Posters to the nearby villages. He could head west, to Mushroom City: that place was wild with anarchy, and it'd be an absolutely safe haven from the Mushroom Castle guards- but it'd be hard to raise an army. The people there simply didn't care about taking over the Mushroom Kingdom.

_Now that Bowser's gone…_ Penter thought, and then an idea stuck him like lightning: the Koopa Kingdom. So what if Bowser had backstabbed him? Not all koopas would be like that…would they? Since Bowser was gone, it would be much easier to join the Koopa Troop, maybe even as a general! Penter knew so much about the Mushroom Kingdom that he would be extremely valuable…he could give the koopas the complete layout of Peach's Castle, to start with, and the easiest routes through the Forest…and if Luigi was still alive, his weaknesses.

Yes, it was perfect- travel through the Desert, join the Koopa Kingdom, come back to the Mushroom Kingdom with an army…and then execute Peach. And then after that…well, Penter would cross that bridge when he got there. He'd become good friends with the koopas…they'd let him rule the Mushroom Kingdom.

* * *

West of Penter, a ways into the Forest, wandered a confused and miserable koopa. It was very early in the morning and extremely dark and these facts only added to the koopa's great confusion. Mud…there was mud…

He started crying a little. Then he realized there wasn't any mud…no, only trees- endless woods. He tripped over a root and fell to his knees. The bizarre cloak he was wearing was becoming coated with dirt, but he didn't care: he felt like he was going crazy. And the cold…so cold…a vague memory surfaced, and he remembered that it was fall…soon it would be winter, and it would snow, and everything would become even colder still.

_red_

The koopa jerked up in terror and fell back against a tree. Flashes of red…red was death…red: blood, flushed face, gore, wounds, pain, mud, M-

_No no no no no no! _He started crying again, but now he was also shaking in utter terror. He could feel it: his cloak was wet with blood. Was it his blood? The smell was unbearable. Death…death everywhere…M…M…M…

Laughing laughing laughing laughing laughing laughing laughing someone was laughing. The koopa drove his head against a tree. He couldn't stand anything anymore. Existence itself was unbearable. He had to escape, he had to-

**Wes…Wes…calm down…**

It was a book…floating in the air, open to the middle, displaying a drawn face. Wes sniffled. _Wes…is that my name? _He wondered. Wes…it was all he had. He would take it. He tried to say something to the Book but he bent over and threw up instead.

**Poor, poor Wes… **The Book laughed. The laughter rung in Wes' head.

"Is…is that my name?" Wes gasped. His head felt terrible...and he was slowly becoming aware of a pain in his left hand. He brought his hand up, causing his vision to go blurry. His pinky, ring finger, and middle finger were all wrecked, bent and completely snapped. The Book laughed again, its wide mouth reaching wider and wider. "I don't…I don't…understand." Wes choked. He felt so utterly broken.

**Ah, Wes. It seems your magic spell caused you to lose your memory. Let me explain. You are a famous Magikoopa. I'm your spell book…and your goal is to be king. **

Wes opened his mouth to ask a question, but a splitting headache suddenly shot through his mind. He cried out in pain instead.

**In order to be king, Wes, you have to get to a castle that is north of here. There is an object there that you need in order to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom.**

"Mushroom…" Wes muttered.

**There'll also be a princess…you'll have to deal with her too. **

"I don't…I don't want…" Wes started, but the Book flew into his face, its sharp-toothed grin becoming a cavern of malice.

**You don't WANT? Of course you want, **_**Wes**_**… **The Book sneered. **Before you were a Magikoopa, you were a worthless pile of trash. Perhaps you don't remember because you misused your magic like an idiot…but **_**I **_**do. You created me so that you wouldn't live like another piece of **_**garbage **_**for the rest of your pathetic, laughable life.**

Wes stared at the ground, like a child being reprimanded.

**Now, it's very simple. We need to cast another spell in order to get to the castle as soon as possible. I'm going to need your index finger, and your thumb.**

"What…no…I don't want…" Wes pleaded.

**SHUT UP YOU GODDAMN FAILURE! **The Book screamed. Wes flinched and threw his hands up in front of his face. **Once you're king we can fix your fingers…but for now…**

Wes already had his hands up near the Book. He slowly moved the last finger on his left hand, along with his thumb, below the face in the Book.

**Good. **The Book leered. It slammed shut, and Wes heard his fingers snap before the white light engulfed him again.


	11. Chapter Eleven and Map

**Hello everyone, this is Magikoopa981 with a small update. There is now a Mushroom Kingdom map available for "Mario's Crowbar": Google "deviantart marios crowbar", and the first search result will be the map (I can't give a link since _this site _****would automatically remove it). You can also access my main deviantart page from there, where I have posted a kind-of author's commentary on the first chapter of the story. If you enjoy that sort of thing, take a look at it, and leave me a comment there or here letting me know. If people are interested, I'll write up more.**

Chapter Eleven

The rain resumed, returning to the symphony of thunder and lightning which had never left. Peach stared gloomily out the window into the early morning darkness. _Mario, where are you? _Peach wondered sadly. She decided to try to read a book to put her mind at rest, but all she happened to have in the room was a long historical account: "The Early Years of the Mushroom Kingdom: 50 B.S.E. to 400 A.S.E.".

"_Smithos' hellish rule lasted for twenty years, in which the beings of nearly the entire world were enslaved. The work would never end as Smithos had plans to create the 'Endless Castle', a monstrosity that would reach forever into the sky. As the people of the world suffered and begged for freedom a group of four heroes arose who built up an incredible rebel army in order to defeat Smithos. When the time was right they charged into the incomplete Endless Castle and brought Smithos to his knees, bringing an end to his rein. His head was chopped off and cast into the waters of the Depthless Sea."_

Smithos: the ancient demon that had conquered everything. The idea of the metal monster frightened her, and yet the irony of her own ruling style hardly occurred to her. The thing that resonated most deeply with her was fear- the fear of darkness, of death.

And the fear of Bowser, of course. He was somewhere out there now, prowling about. The toad guards had finally done something useful and had captured him, but now he was out, free to try to capture her again. Plus, the toad that had defeated Bowser had now been murdered by the very same toad that had freed Bowser. That toad was now on the loose just the same as Bowser was. It was infuriating and terrifying.

_Penter…Penter Penter Penter. _Peach was going to remember that little bastard's name now. Along with the search party looking for Mario she was going to send out search parties in all directions to find Penter. She was going to have him brought back, alive, and then she was going to deal with him in her own way.

* * *

It was two hours after midnight when Blaine saw the toads leaving the cabins- many of them Khad's close fans. He had been planning on going to bed but he already knew he wouldn't be able to sleep- he had woken up just a few hours ago.

He hurried after the crowd, his sword still left behind in his room, quietly slipping in right behind the back. Many of the toads in the front were wearing entirely black cloaks with strange purple lines moving up the back, while the toads following wore normal working clothes. Blaine immediately recognized one of the toads next to him as Blii, a constantly giggling fellow who often stumbled over his own words. Now Blii was completely silent, staring forward solemnly, along with the rest of the toads. Blaine copied them. Being at the edge of the crowd, he could see that the group was heading north-east…back towards the graveyard.

* * *

THE CASTLE- the creature had walked all night and had made it. Yes, there it was- so tall, so regal. And the princess…the princess was inside.

The creature swung its crowbar around and approached the front gate. A toad peeked around the corner and recognized Mario's shadow.

"Oh my gosh! Mario!" The toad squealed. He opened the gate. Mario lurched forward into the light of the castle. The toad screamed. Mario swung his crowbar into the side of the toad's head, smashing right through it and out the other side. Chunks of gore exploded outward onto the nearby wall, and the toad fell down dead. Mario continued forward into the castle, blood dripping off the crowbar and creating a path behind him.

_Please don't tell me they left without me… _Toadbert pleaded to himself. He rushed out of his room and headed down the stairs into the main foyer. The door opened before he could accidently run into it. Toadbert barely stopped from crashing into Mario, and he began to greet him before his eyes caught up to his mind.

"Mario! Thank goodness…" Toadbert started. Mario swung the curved end of the crowbar into Toadbert's face, completely ripping out the first two inches of his eyes. Toadbert screamed as a waterfall of blood began to pour out of his face. Mario swung the crowbar again and again, silencing the loud toad. Layers upon layers of more blood coated Mario's clothing. His blue overalls were now almost completely red.

Mario started moving up the stairs.

* * *

"_After Smithos' end the surviving heroes became great rulers. One hero, Vega, founded the Mushroom Kingdom. Another hero, Capella, founded the Koopa Kingdom. The last surviving hero, Rigel, founded the Forest Kingdom in-between."_

Peach wondered why she hadn't heard of the Forest Kingdom. She had had a basic education growing up, but she had heard absolutely nothing about a Forest Kingdom.

In fact, she had begun to take an interest in history recently because she had realized how vague and awful her education had been. It had made dealing with the other kingdoms to the west more difficult because she knew nothing about their prior histories and their complicated relationships with each other.

For instance, she had managed to establish a healthy trading relationship between the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland. However, she hadn't realized how much the countries surrounding Sarasaland, such as the Beanbean Kingdom and Jewelry Land hated it. They had started putting higher taxes on their goods for the Mushroom Kingdom!

SPLUCKSH. Peach jumped in surprise. She stayed quiet for a moment, listening carefully, but then shook her head. She thought she had heard something weird in the distance. It must've been her imagination. She opened the drawer in her desk and took out a large red crystal she kept inside. It had been passed down from some time in the past but she had never been sure what it was. She was supposed to keep it in its special hiding place, but she needed it now- it comforted her.

Peach turned a page in the history book.

"_The Mushroom Kingdom and the Forest Kingdom…"_

splucksh splacksh SPLUCKSH SPLACKSH. It sounded like someone with water in their shoes was walking down the hall. Stupid toads…some of them must've still been out in the rain, and now they were tracking water in the halls!

SPLUCKSH SPLACKSH **SPLUCKSH SPLACKSH **_**SPLUCKSH SPLACKSH.**_

The steps had stopped outside of her door. Peach turned toward the door. What idiotic toad had stopped outside of HER door, sopping wet? What could possibly be so important? Peach stood up, taking the red crystal with her and walked to the door.

"Who is it? What's so important?" Peach called angrily.

"PriNcESs," Mario whispered. Peach breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank god, it's you, Mario," Peach sighed. She backed up a little to put the red crystal down on a nearby table. The door exploded open and Mario rushed forward, swinging the crowbar at Peach's head. Peach shrieked and instinctively brought the red crystal up towards her face. The crowbar hit the crystal and bounced back, causing a loud chiming sound to reverberate from both. They flashed for a short second.

"MeAT! MEA…" Mario burst into an extreme coughing fit. He bent over, his explosive coughing seeming to quake the room. Peach stepped back in panic, and then ran for the door, carrying the crystal with her. It was heavy, but she couldn't let go of it- and subconsciously, she didn't want to. Once in the hallway she screamed again. There was a trail of blood leading up to her door, created by Mario and originating from two dead toad bodies down the hall. Peach turned to go the other way and almost slipped on the blood, which had continued to run down the hall. She slammed her shoulder against the wall to stop from falling and then started running, her crown bouncing off onto the floor in the process. Mario moved stiffly out of the door behind her.

"PriNCEss! PrinCESS!" Mario screamed. He moved as swiftly as he could after her, trying to work with his hideously mangled leg.

* * *

Blaine almost stepped on a pair of misplaced glasses as the group of toads he had been following finally stopped- in the most unpleasantly predictable place. Three of the cloaked toads moved forward to Khad's grave and began to dig. Blaine considered stopping them and questioning them as an official member of the toad guard, but he wasn't sure it would be safe. He wasn't actually a member of whatever this craziness was, and if they all worked against him, they could easily kill him.

All of the other toads watched quietly. Blaine shivered. The storm had finally stopped, and the sky had cleared at an unnatural speed. The stars glimmered in the icy darkness, and it was astoundingly beautiful. Blaine looked up to identify some constellations, but some of the other toads noticed that he wasn't paying attention to whatever was going on and began to glare at him. Blaine stopped looking at the sky and returned his gaze to Khad's body, which was now entirely out of the grave.

"Let us begin," Murmured one of the toads near the front. Blaine recognized him as Alago, Khad's best friend. _Is he the one leading this freak show? _Blaine wondered.

Toad bodies in general rot very quickly, and Khad was no exception. His skin had started to turn wrinkled and rotten brown and one of his fingers had already fallen off. Otherwise…he still looked pretty bad. One of his eyes was sunk back from Penter's tornado punch, and his entire body was twisted from the broken backbone.

The cultist toads moved Khad onto a large surface of concrete among the patches of grass. They laid him down on his back in the approximate center, and chalk emerged from under cloaks. The toads began to draw a complex series of shapes around Khad- Blaine couldn't believe what he was seeing. Were they trying to…

It was ridiculous and insane. Blaine had heard several unsavory rumors about the group that followed Khad, including secretive violence, and even the removal of eyes, but this was madness. Heptagram over hexagram over pentagram drawn around four circles mathematically calculated to geometric perfection all around Khad. All around Khad…how could he summon this kind of respect? Why was there a cult dedicated to him? Blaine watched in disbelief as the drawing finished and Alago took his place in front of the corpse.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

The sound of pounding on the door was getting louder and louder. Seigal clutched the Rigex closely. Ludwig looked furious.

"Give me the damn crystal." Ludwig growled.

"Why? What's going on?" Seigal asked, backing up into a tall pile of chairs. The door was beginning to visibly shake.

"That is…" Ludwig face-palmed for a moment and then continued. "That is the official mark of the koopa royal family: the Rigex."

"What, and does everyone know that?" Seigal asked angrily.

"No…in fact, its existence is a closely guarded secret."

THUNK. It sounded like someone had slammed their head against the door.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Seigal called out.

"Shut up. They can't understand…they can't hear anything right now," Ludwig muttered. "Their minds are entirely gone…for the time being. The only thing they can even think of right now is killing- killing me." The door rumbled as more and more koopas began to throw themselves against it. "The Rigex is a magical object with infernal powers: the possessor of the object is the supreme ruler of the Koopa Kingdom. If the Rigex is given to another koopa…no, any other individual, unrelated to the ruling family, then…" Ludwig's face darkened. "The previous ruler- and all their kin- will be killed by their own servants."

"What?" Seigal asked in disbelief. "But that's…they can't…"

"The Rigex proves absolute rule, however, its perfection requires a terrible price. That is why you must give me the Rigex- before they kill me and my siblings…and eventually, my idiotic father as well," Ludwig paused for a moment. "Then again…he knew the consequences of the Rigex. He was already dying, wasn't he? He did this just out of sheer hate, didn't he? I mean, I suppose…if he hadn't given it to you, a toad could've found it…but… …Never mind any of that! You understand now, right? Give me the Rigex."

THUMP THUMP THUMP. An insane screaming. Someone was slamming themselves with full force at the door. It seemed about to break down. Seigal shifted nervously and started to hand the Rigex to Ludwig. Ludwig's reached out excitedly, but at the critical moment Seigal's shield of optimism was suddenly broken down by a quiet, pessimistic thought. He steadied himself and brought the Rigex tightly back to his own chest. Ludwig's relieved face flashed to anger.

"Ludwig," Seigal started slowly. "What happens to _me_…if I give you the Rigex?"

An icy silence pervaded the room, save for the increasingly loud screeching on the other side of the door.

"What?" Ludwig asked incredulously, like Seigal had asked an idiotic question. "I don't…I don't know. Everything will go back to normal- naturally. Now then…" Ludwig stuck his right hand out, palm open.

"I don't…" Waves of pessimism were overcoming him. "…believe you. I think you know…what will happen." Seigal tried to back away, but he found himself hitting the chairs again.

"What are you saying?" Ludwig asked, still trying to portray some manner of unaware innocence.

"It's…it's me or you Ludwig. And I don't want to…die." Seigal trembled. The weight of the moment was bearing down on him- he was going directly against prince Ludwig…and the entire royalty he had followed since birth and had served for the last five years.

"Seigal," Ludwig stated simply.

Seigal blinked. He was taken aback- he didn't realize that Ludwig actually knew his name. He thought he had only been considered a nameless servant.

"You were one of my favorites. Most of the koopas here were so miserable all of the time…but you…you had heart. You understood what a privilege it was to so directly serve the royal family rather than fight for my father's insane whims out on the battlefield." Ludwig's fingers began to stretch menacingly. "I honestly feel bad…about having to kill you."

Seigal had seen it coming. When Ludwig jutted his hand out, apparently trying to stab right through Seigal's torso with his brutally sharp claws, Seigal had disappeared into his shell, falling to the floor. Ludwig's long hand reached to the stacked chairs, striking them with a force that sent the precariously tall tower over. A moment later, Seigal found himself buried beneath. He crawled as far as he could to the opposite wall while trying not to inhale the numerous cobwebs that covered his face. He emerged on the other side and peeked out of the stacked garbage. Ludwig had also gotten out of the chairs, but he was near the door.

"I'm sorry, Seigal, but this is a small room, and I'm…"

Ludwig started to make his way over when the door finally crashed open. Mindless koopas poured in and grabbed Ludwig, who began to scream furiously. Seigal plastered himself to the wall in terror, but when the crowd had managed to grab ahold of Ludwig they went back into the hallway. Seigal shook himself and ran into the hallway.

"Wait! STOP! LET GO OF HIM!" Seigal yelled down the hallway. The koopas ignored him. Ludwig thrashed and screamed, but it was useless. He was simply too outnumbered. Seigal followed them, yelling at them to stop, but he hardly dared to try anything else.

_I'd be pulverized…there's no point…_Seigal thought to himself, comforting his lack of courage. He followed the koopas outside to where a series of nooses had been prepared in the hanging yard. All of the koopalings, save for Roy and Lemmy, were brought up to the nooses and held by groups of five strong koopas each. There was a short moment of silence where none of the koopas moved (presumably some subconscious confirmation that Roy and Lemmy had gotten away) before the koopalings were forced into the nooses. They were all dropped quickly, before any of them had a chance to say anything beyond screaming, curse words, and desperate pleas. _My god. _Seigal thought numbly. His knees trembled and he felt like he was going to fall.

_I…I refused to give him the Rigex and they all died. They all died because of me. They were royalty, and I put myself above them. Who am I? Who was I to…keep the Rigex? _Seigal trembled. A combination of guilty thoughts and the sight of so much direct death struck him. Seigal fainted and fell to the ground, dropping the Rigex.

* * *

Peach ran, shrieking and losing breath. Mario followed behind, letting out a tremendous screaming peppered with coughs. _Where are the toads? _Peach wondered frantically. She had come across a few bodies that Mario had obviously killed, but couldn't anyone hear her screaming?

She rounded a corner and slipped on a corpse. Peach would've screamed again but throat had become so raw that her cries were silenced. She fell, painfully landing onto the red crystal she was holding and the dead body that already laid on the ground. Her dress became coated with blood. Mario came running up from behind, wildly whooping. Peach got up and began to run again, but she was beginning to lose her wits. Mario wasn't very fast, but he was never going to give up. Peach, running through the castle, was too tired from lack of sleep and from the running, and would eventually collapse. In her tired confusion and terror she ran into the wrong door.

Stairs- she was running up stairs. The door opened behind her and Mario began to limp up after her. Running and running and running and running and running the horrible truth hit her: she had wandered onto the castle's special endless staircase without using the special key. It was a special trap that had been designed to provide a safe room in case Bowser ever took over the castle, (although it had failed when he had captured the place before) but now it was Peach's doom. The special looping music that came from speakers hidden behind the walls began to play, the deranged music seemed to complement and encourage Mario. He began to move faster, swinging the crowbar with murderous abandon.

The stairs refused to end.

* * *

Elsewhere in Mushroom Castle Toadsworth woke up. He had the innate sense of an elderly man that the princess couldn't sleep from worry, so he toddled off to the castle's kitchen to make some tea. Unfortunately, he had several problems: one, he had lost his glasses earlier that day during Khad's burial. Two, he was becoming so senile that he hadn't even realized that he had lost his glasses. And three: he couldn't remember how to get to Peach's room.

Toadsworth wandered through the halls of the castle, muttering "eh wot" and telling the dead toads on the floor to desist napping. Eventually, through some vague sense of memory, he managed to find the kitchen, where he began to make tea. He had forgotten how, however, and began to pour in various unappetizing ingredients.

* * *

The blinding light faded away and Wes found himself in a grand foyer. There were three dead bodies scattered around the room. _Is this where the princess lives? _Wes wondered. He looked over the dead bodies and felt a tingle of terror- which quickly passed. He had power, didn't he? What did he have to fear?

The Book floated out in front of Wes and surveyed the scene.

**It looks like the spell has worked…great job, Wes. **The Book sounded like it was trying not to laugh.

"Thanks." Wes mumbled. What was he doing here again? He couldn't remember clearly.

**Are you confused? **The Book turned back to Wes, grinning. **Of course you are. Your little head still hurts a little, doesn't it? We're here to get the princess, and the object she keeps with her, Wes.**

"Both?" Wes asked.

**Yes, **_**both**_**. If you don't have both, it won't work. **The Book snapped.

"What won't work?"

"**Quiet. First, let us find the princess. Then she'll tell us where the Legix is."**

The sound of screaming echoed from somewhere upstairs. The Book's grin widened.

**Let's go.**

Wes began to run up the stairs. He started to ball his hands into fists, but the fingers on his left hand refused to budge. _Oh right. My fingers… _Wes confirmed that all of the fingers on his left hand were broken. At least they didn't seem to hurt anymore.

The Book seemed to lead the way until Wes made it to a bizarre door high up in the castle. Going in he found himself at the bottom of a set of stairs where two figures were already running upwards. Peach and…

_M… RED RED RED RED _Wes gasped and grabbed his head with both hands. Vague memories began to resurface that pounded his head like bullet bills. The endless nightmares of a horrible existence funneled into his mind: darkness, death, red, and M.

Floating above Wes the Book sneered.

**I guess you'll be busy with that then. I can handle this myself.**

The Book floated over Mario and headed for the large crystal that Peach was carrying. It spotted the crowbar on its way.

**Lucky day.** The Book's grin widened considerably.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**This one's a little short, but some really important stuff happens. Also, Chapter Two Commentary is up on my Deviantart page (refer to the "link" in Chapter Eleven to get there).**

Chapter Thirteen

Alago clapped once and Khad's body rose into the air. Magical energies, visibly silver in color, flowed out of the ground and air and absorbed into Khad's body, causing his arms, legs, and head to tremble violently. A minute passed as a great degree of energy was contained, until it exploded out again. Khad's body fell back onto the ground, right into the middle of the mystical shapes drawn around it.

The cultists backed up until a massive ring circled around Khad's body. No one was behind anyone- everyone had a direct view of the corpse. Blaine shivered and tried to explain to himself how a dead body had just floated into the air, but his thoughts were interrupted.

"YES!" Khad exploded upwards. He punched his fists into the air and spun around in a circle, dancing. "YES YES YES! FINALLY! DIABOLICAL! YES!"

The sight of the corpse dancing was disgusting. Blaine thought Khad's rotting limbs would rip off, but it seemed that the resurrection of his body had filled it with a kind-of containing magic that prevented further degeneration.

"Khad, you have returned to us," Alago approached Khad, bowing low and faithfully. "We are so relieved."

The surrounding cultists (and regular toads, that seemed to have some kind of connection to the ceremony) muttered their agreement. Trying to blend in, Blaine nodded and muttered some quiet gibberish.

"Oh yeah baby! Bow to me!" Khad grinned. The cultists obeyed dutifully, bowing until their faces touched the ground. "I am the best…wait. What did you call me?"

"Great _Khad_, we had an ally who had researched the magic of resurrection and knew of a method to bring you back." Alago reported.

Khad stared at the cultists quietly before he looked down and noticed his body. He glanced at his rotting body and then his limp arms in disgust. He smiled weakly.

"Khad…yes! Khad that is me! Woo!" Khad shook his arms and began to pull at his fingers.

"The resurrection spell solidifies your body as if you had never fallen, sir."

"Uh huh. Right…yeah…" Khad began to jump up and down. The cultists watched on in confusion. Blaine watched in even greater confusion. Khad stopped jumping. "Say…how long has it been since I died?"

"Only a day sir…we rushed to revive you as soon as possible."

"No, no! You don't…" Khad paused in annoyance. The cultists looked down at the ground with quiet, neutral expressions. "…Well, what year is it?"

"…1500 A.S.E. sir." As Alago spoke, the other cultists shifted around. Blaine could tell that they were getting restless. There seemed to be something wrong with Khad.

"1500 A.S.E.? Oh yes, now I remember. Righto, righto!" Khad hopped about.

"Sir, now that you've returned…" Alago began.

"We're going to hunt down Penter Procyon, right?" An uncloaked toad stepped from the circle. It was Blii. He was strangely reserved and quiet…and yet still exuding the same energy as he usually did. Blaine found it disturbing.

"What are you doing?" Alago whirled around in anger towards Blii. "You are not cloaked, are you…?"

"Whoa whoa whoa, calm down there captain." Khad stopped leaping about and began to walk towards Alago and Blii. His movement was odd and stilted…or perhaps it was just the appearance of a corpse walking. "Did I just hear the name Procyon?"

"Penter Procyon, sir. The toad who killed you." Blii confirmed. His eyes twinkled.

"Procyon…is that even…?" Khad paused for a moment, before speaking energetically again. "Well, this is all very interesting! Is there a…"

"Shall we head back to Mushroom Castle, sir?" Alago interrupted.

"Yes! Exactly! Diabolical! Let us head there!" Khad jumped up and down in excitement. He and Alago began to lead the way out of the graveyard. "Now that I'm back, it's time I made my position clear again!"

* * *

Toadsworth hummed a little ditty as he approached the special door at the top of the castle. He was totally lost, basically confused of what he was doing, and completely unaware of the previous two facts. He carefully held the tray of tea in his left hand while he removed a special key from his pocket and gently inserted it into the special door's keyhole. He then turned the key and opened the door.

Peach slammed into the door at the top of the stairs. She tumbled backward, dropping the Legix which bounced down the stairs and landed in front of Wes. Wes' charm pendant, which had remained cold for some time, became red hot and ripped from his neck, attaching itself to the Legix as if by magnetism.

Mario tripped and slammed his face onto the edge of some stairs. A few of his teeth were knocked out.

The Book, which had almost reached Peach, also slammed into the door at the top of the stairs, and fell back stunned for a moment. It righted itself quickly and flew down to Wes. Mario started to stand up near the top of the stairs. Peach tried to open the door behind her, but it was locked.

**Wes, the red one is tough…I'm going to need your left arm.**

Wes shook his head. Perhaps he wasn't hearing clearly.

"My…arm?"

"Tea?" Toadsworth queried nearby.

**Yes, Wes, your arm. Hurry- put your left arm on the page.**

"No…I'm not using my whole arm." Wes said. "I…I can give you some fingers…"

**We need more to kill this guy. Wes…**

"Ho hum…it's elderberry crumble blend…" Toadsworth mumbled.

"NO!" Wes shouted. Up the stairs Mario had stood completely up. He swung the crowbar around and then began to make his way up to Peach. She found the energy to scream again.

**Excuse me? **The Book twitched.

"I made YOU, right? I…I might be going crazy, but why the hell should I listen to you? I've…I've got another plan." Wes forcefully grabbed the book and then stuck his left hand in. It was almost the same sacrifice but he was sick of taking orders from the book…and he was also sick out of his mind of everything. Rebellion…against something- it was what he needed now.

The Book shook furiously.

**YOU DON'T KNOW HOW THE MAGIC WORKS… **

It was too late. Mario charged at Peach, but a white light engulfed her and she disappeared. The white light then engulfed Wes, just as Mario slammed his head against the wall, after which point he was taken too. The sacrifice was only enough for three people, however, and Toadsworth was unaffected. The Legix and the charm that was attached to it were left behind, while the crowbar remained in Mario's tight grip.


End file.
